Rangers lead the way!
by prohibidofumar
Summary: Detective Jay Halstead left the army, but is it really over? when the past comes back, what will he do? and remember to R&R :)
1. the news

**Author's note: hey guuuys! Soo this is my first fanfic ever! So if you have any ideas or reviews please, don't be shy. Also please know that English is NOT my first language, so if you notice any grammar mistakes please tell me, and I apologize in advance for any mistakes.**

 **I do not own the show nor the characters.**

CHAPTER 1: "THE NEWS"

It was still dark outside when a penetrating cold invaded Jay's room causing him to wake up shivering with all his hairs standing up - _like a military formation-_ he thought with a laugh. Still half asleep he crossed the room to close the window while saying: freaking cold, I wish I was somewhere hot. Sighing, he looked around for something to do, cause he knew he wouldn't be able to fall asleep again, so he made some coffee and headed up earlier than usual to the station.

When he arrived he wasn't surprised to see Sergeant Platt already there, looking around hoping some clumsy rookie would make a mistake, so she could have some fun with it. Unfortunately, it was too early and no rookie was on the mood of doing anything.

-Sarge, he said with a nod, walking towards the stairs.

-Detective! I am surprised you are here this early!

-yeah, well, I left the window open, it was like the whole north pole came into my room, Jay said laughing, I couldn't sleep anymore, sooo reporting for duty, sir!

-Whatever, Detective, I don't really care, just go upstairs and leave, I enjoy silence

-Ouch, I'm offended –putting his hands on his heart-

-Detective… said Platt annoyed

-Ok ok I surrender. Jay lifted his arms in defeated position and walked away, clearly amused by the situation.

Two hours he waited for his team to arrive, he was throwing paper planes to pass the time, when Mouse crossed the door.

-Hey Jay, why are you here earlier?

-uhg I left my window open, you get the idea

-uuu yeah it's freezing outside, but it's better that the heat when we were overseas

-I'm not so sure, Jay said still throwing planes

Mouse sat and opened his computer _let's hope his not hacking anything important_ thought Lindsay while she waved at him.

-Hey Jay - _Damn he's handsome-_

-Hi Er! Jay gave her his best smile and kissed her

-Come on jay! Not here –Lindsay said lowering her voice, but clearly with a playful tone

-couldn't resist, sorry. Either way you know that Voight let us

-I know I know, she looked at him and let out a giggle, whatever, but just this time detective!

By 8.30 everyone was there and Voight had give them the files for a new case about some murder, when Sergeant Platt came in and went straight to Voight's office, and closed the door. The unit looked each other wondering what was that about.

-Sergeant, what's up?

-Someone is here to see you… it's…

Platt looked really concerned so Voight too got anxious. What is it?

Platt made a deep sight and said: Brigadier General Mark Coleman has asked to see you and detective Halstead in private.

Voight felt his blood leaving his face after what the sarge said, but in the outside he remained calmed and asked for the detective to come.

Halstead! She finger pointed at him, opened the door and stepped aside. Lindsay looked at a concerned Jay and while he walked towards the office she grabbed his arm and said calmly: heey I'm sure it's gonna be alright, don't worry. Okay? She smiled so he smiled back – not as confident as hers of course- and entered. Sergeant Platt closed the door and went to bring the General.

-Emm, so what's all this about?

Voight stayed silent for a couple of second with his hand holding his cheek and finally said slowly: Jay, Mark Coleman, a Brigadier General, you know him?

-yeah sure, he helps planning and coordinating missions at overseas, why?

-because he's here and asking for you.


	2. farewell?

**Author's note: so guuuuys! thaks for reading and reviewing! it helps a lot, soo I wrote the second chapter! hope you like it**

CHAPTER 2: FAREWELL?

Jay expected anything but _that_ , so his throat felt really dry and had to swallow hard to speak. "wow that was… unexpected" he said seriously. "Did he say why?" –Now more intrigued-

"Not really, look, why don`t you seat and let´s wait, maybe it's nothing of importance" Clearly Voight was trying to calm the kid –and probably himself too- but neither of them actually believed that.

Outside, everyone was getting nervous, no one could figure out what was happening. Someone tried to make a joke, but apparently it wasn't funny, so they kept waiting in silence, it didn't last long though, cause Platt came in and said "Detectives, may I present you Brigadier General Mark Coleman"

The man in question was a stout, tall man with a powerful look that didn't miss a detail. He stood up straight, took of his cap and nodded. "A pleasure"

The unit, more confused than ever, went to shake his hand welcoming him to the precinct, but Mouse –due to his inner ranger, that never really leaves- saluted him, presenting himself. "It's an honor to always meet in person people like you, I know who you are, and your service to your country will never be forgotten". Mouse smiled at him, obviously flattered and sail "thank you sir, I appreciate it"

"Now that all introductions have been made, shall we go, sir?"

"Yes, please, I don't have much time". That said, Platt and the General headed to Voight's office. "What do you guys think he wants?" Ruzek asked, but no one responded, because no one knew and didn't want to make wrong assumptions, so the team kept waiting.

It's interesting to see the different reactions: Erin paced nervously eating her nails thinking " _please don't let them take him away"_ Al, on the other hand, was seated, frowning. You could almost hear him saying " _He's a good kid, don't let it be what I_ _think it is"_

When Coleman came in, Jay, just like Mouse, stood up and saluted him. "Staff General Halstead, I've heard a lot about you". "Good things I hope, Sir" "Of course" he said with a chuckle. Voight welcomed him and invited him to take a seat.

"I guess that you are all wondering why I am here. He looked at Hank, then at Jay. "I'll try to be as clear as I can". He sighed shortly and said first to Voight "I wanted both of you here because you are his superior and as a military man I respect any chain of command, so I thought that you had to be here present, in case you wanted to say something to your detective or advice him. Also, please know that what I'm about to tell you must remain between us, at least the details" Then, he turned to the detective and started talking: "three days ago a platoon was escorting a Sergeant to Camp Phoenix, located in Kabul, Afghanistan, when they were ambushed by Taliban insurgents, and abducted the Sergeant, killing everyone else"

"General, can we know who is this Sergeant and why did they take him?" Jay asked

The General's gaze turned more serious as he said "he was one of your men in your platoon" _wait, what?!_ "Who?" jay asked, now beyond worried.

"Alan Rodríguez. After your incident with the humvee, we decided that he would no longer be in action, nevertheless he still wanted to stay, so we gave him the task to collect information about the Talibans. After a while he became one of our most important assets; four day ago he heard in the streets about a possible attack to one of our camps, so after he corroborated the info, he let us know that he was ready for extraction. Naturally, for security, he always tells the intel face to face, and that's when it happened. We haven't heard of him since then, but yesterday we received data of a possible location"

Both Jay and Voight were shocked by this, and a few seconds passed till Voight asked "This is all very tragic General, but why are you telling us all this?" Jay knew the answer and nervously looked at the General who was as well looking at him. "Because I'm asking you to help us bring him back. Look, detective, I am aware that you left the army and that's why I can't force you make that decision" Inside Voight's head he screamed and shouted _SHIT! Tell me this is not happening_ , he turned his head to Halstead and saw the face of the kid _shit, he's scared, that poor kid has never wanted to come back, he went through hell there, please say no, please say no._ And the General continued "But, you are one of the best Rangers snipers that we have and the only qualified for this mission, so I need to know, because time is of the essence, yes or no Sergeant Halstead?"

Jay felt like a million eyes were staring at him, waiting for an answer, pushing him for different directions, one to the "yes" _he was my friend, he needs me,_ and the other to the "no" _fuck, the PTSD could come back, and I could die, I don´t want to leave Er._ As he came closer to an answer he felt his palms sweating and his heart beating faster. He looked at Hank eyes and said:

"Yes"


	3. YES

**Author's note: hey guys! so thank for reviewing! it's really really helpfull. I hope you are enyoing the story! And if you want to give any ideas, feel free to do so. :) (if you find any grammar mistakes i'm so sorry!)**

"Yes"

 _NO! Oh maan! Why kid?!_ Voight was moving uncomfortably in his chair not knowing what to do; he wanted to say something so badly, but in private with Halstead, not with the General snooping around - _asshole, you don't care about the kid, you don´t know him and you sure don't know how hard this is for him, just pray for him to return safe, if not… you will have an entire unit on top of you-_. So, he waited –apparently everyone was waiting for something today-. The General's face lit up and let out a small grin "Sergeant, you are doing a great favor to your country, and I am very grateful for your sacrifice, because I know this is a really difficult decision, thank you" he extended his hand and Jay shook it "It is my duty sir, as a friend and as a Ranger" After a moment he asked "Can you give me the specifics?"

"Well, yes, yes, I have them here… umm do you mind your boss is here?" "Not at all, actually I want him to be here" Hank gave him a thank-you-smile and nodded at Jay "Thanks kid". So, the General begun reading: "We'll depart today, December 17th at 22.00 and arrive at 11.45 of December 18th to Kabul airport. _Today? O my God, Erin's gonna kill me._ The General didn't notice the disturbed look on Jay's face, but Voight did, so he clapped Halstead's back and gave him a reassuring smile. "As I was saying, once we get to the camp, you will be introduced to the team, which consists of seven men –eight including you-; each of them has been chosen because of a specific ability, like you" The General closed the folder, left it on the table and took of his reading glasses. "I can't tell you more details for the moment, classified information"

 _Okay, umm, shit what I'm supposed to say, I don't know what to say_ Jay stayed silent so Voight asked "How long is this mission going to last?" He had been quiet for so long that his voice came out more raspy than usual; if this had been a complete different situation it would have been funny, but not know, this was serious as hell. The General was expecting that question and it seemed he was hoping for it not to come. "Umm, I have to be honest, I don't know, we have just received _some_ info, we have to check it out, organize the team, the rescue, the plans… you get the picture". Hank thought about this and said "If that's all you have to tell us, I would appreciate to leave me alone with my detective, _sir"_ Hank Voight was really upset.

The General stood up and left his number to Halstead "you will be contacted by this number" He was reaching the door when he stopped, turned around and said "Again, thank you"

Once he left, Hank started pacing –just like Erin did before- around the office "Kid, please think about it, it's one of the most important decisions that y…" Jay cut him off and said "Sarge, I know that you are worried about me, hell I'm worried too, and I appreciate the concern, I really do, but with all due respect this is my decision and I have made my choice. Alan was a really good friend of mine out there and he had my back and saved me from pretty nasty situations, the least I can do is to return the favor"

Voight realized that he wouldn't change the kid's mind; his only option was to support him, so he did "Kid, look, this is really hard for me, you have become a part of this unit, and we are like a second family, so know that we have your back" he sat on the edge of the desk, put a hand on Jay's shoulder and said "I'm proud of you and your decision, you'll have your place here waiting for you, so come back, ok? We'll be waiting for you"

"Thank you Sarge, I really appreciate it, I'll find a way to come back in one piece I always do" Jay smiled and said "well, I think we have to tell the unit" _God I don't wanna do it_ Jay stood up took a deep breath and opened the door – _Here we go-_

Once Jay and Voight were out of the office everyone stopped what they were doing and approached them, including Sergeant Platt, who had been waiting along with the others the whole time. Antonio was the first one to ask "what happened?" the Atwater "was it bad?" then the entire unit started shooting questions at Jay and Voight. "DETECTIVES!" Platt shouted "Let the man speak"

All eyes focused of Jay when he started speaking. "Guys, I umm, I've been asked to return to Afghanistan for a mission"

Lindsay jumped at the news and asked very worried "Jay… what did you say?" she held her breath and thought _don't say yes, don't say yes_

"I said yes" Erin covered her mouth with her hands _–no-_ "O God" she said whispering

Jay was feeling terrible after seeing all the sad, scared and shocked faces. "I'm really sorry guys, one of my old platoon was taken and they have asked me to help them with the recovery mission"

"Who?" That was the first thing Mouse said since he spoke to the General. "Alan Rodríguez" "Oh yeah, nice guy" said Mouse with a sad smile; after that he went to his desk and sat with his hands on his pockets. Jay was going to talk to him, but Voight stopped him and said in a low voice "talk to him later, wait for him to cool down" Jay looked at his friend and felt terribly guilty, they had been through so much, he knew that Mouse was worried something happened to him and that he was scared because, what would happen with him if Jay didn't come back? Jay knew he needed him; they had been each other rocks after the thing with the humvee. Jay thought " _I just hope I can fix it before I go, with all of them"._


	4. Goodbye

**Hi again guys! omg here comes all the goodbyes :,( and sorry I haven't posted, i'm on a family trip!**

Sergeant Platt was the first one to shake Halstead's hand "Thank you for your service detective, you have made a brave decision, I don't get to see that every day" Next Ruzek gave him a strong hug and punched him friendly in the arm saying "Man I can't believe it, you are leaving me alone with Atwater! What's wrong with you man!?" "Hey! He's leaving me alone with you too, there are two victims here!" Atwater exclaimed, and everyone laughed. Ruzek then hugged him again and finished by saying "No, but for real man, we're gonna miss you, come back ok?" "I promise" Jay said with a laugh. After Ruzek, Atwater said his goodbyes and gave Jay the best of lucks; Olinsky shook his hand and kept it for a while, saying "Kid you are one of the finest detectives I've ever seen, we'll be waiting for you" Everyone nodded in agreement with what Al had said. Antonio came last, he gave him a hug and affectively said "I can't believe that not long ago I brought you to this unit, i mean, man, we've come a long way since then, I know you'll do great out there, be safe almays" Jay smiled nostalgically and said "Thank you so much guys, and believe me, I'll be here before you notice it"

Jay searched for Erin but he couldn't find her so he asked his friends if they had seen her. "She went to the locker room, go find her Halstead" said Voight "Yeah I'll go now, excuse me guys a sec" Jay passed by Mouse's desk and when he saw that his friend wasn't looking at him he said to him "Hey man, we'll talk later, and no discussion about that"

When Halstead entered the locker room he saw Erin sitting on the floor; her back against the lockers with a lost gaze looking at everything and at the same time nothing. "Hey Er" Said Jay with a soft voice, as he sat next to her. She bowed her head and said at the verge of tears "I don't want you to go, Jay, I won't stand not knowing" She looked at him and kept talking, now with tears rolling down her face and sobbing "I mean, what If you die out there?!" Jay pulled her gently towards him and let her head lean on his shoulder, then, he started massaging her hear to calm her down "Er, I don't want to go either, but I have to, and I swear to you that I'll come back to you, do you hear me?" He lifted her chin and said "Hey, c'mon babe look at me, that's it, please don't cry, you break my heart" "I'm sorry" she said sobbing. Jay left out a chuckle "It's ok, hey, I love you, never forget that" She gave her the best smile she could do at the moment and replied "I love you too, can I write to you while you are there?" "Of course you can, but there's something even better, in the camp they have internet, so we can Skype, the only problem is that there's a difference of thirteen hours" Erin had finally stopped crying and now she was smiling a little "that's great and I don't mind about a _feew_ hours of difference" They both laugh and the Jay leaned his head and kissed her, hoping that all he was feeling for her, she would feel it too.

They reached a point where words were no longer necessary, so they just stayed there sitting and holding hands like twenty minutes or so till Jay said with a sigh "Er, I leave tonight, I have to go and make my bags, tell my brother and talk to Mouse, I'm sorry" "No, don't apologize, you have to get ready, do you want me to come with you?" "I think I'll ask Mouse, so that I can talk to him, but don't worry, before I go I'll come to the precinct to say goodbye" he kissed her head and stood up, Jay helped Erin and they walked really close to one another holding hands, as if they no longer felt comfortable being two and instead, wanting to become one.

They had been in the car in complete silent for ten minutes, until Jay couldn't stand it anymore and pulled over. "Mouse, look at me" His friend slowly turned his head "I am so sorry for all of this, you know you are my brother and I hate myself for leaving" "I know Jay, it's just that –he gave a frustrated sigh and continued- I understand that you have to go, and I don't blame you, at all, ok? It's just that… I'm scared man, We thought it was over, finally moving on, I'm scared that if you come back you'll fall again in that fucking hole" Jay ran his hands through his hair and said "First of all, is not _if_ it's _when_ I come back, ok? Second, yeah I'm worried about that too, but I know that I've got you, the entire unit _and_ my brother to help me get out, so let's just not think about it. We cool?" "Yeah man, we're cool" they smiled at each other and when Jay was starting the car, Mouse stopped him "I want you to have this" He took of his dog tags and gave them to Jay "No, no, no man these are yours, I can't take them" "Yes you can, and you will, it's gonna be like we are there with you; if you are in trouble just… i don't know, look at it" "Wow –said Jay in shock- thanks man, means a lot"

They sat in the waiting room for Halstead's brother and Jay started bouncing his leg rapidly _–how on earth am I going to tell him, shit, shit, shit_ \- "Hey Bro, Mouse, what's up?" Jay and Mouse stood up "Hey Will, umm I need to talk to you in private" Will frowned and asked "sure, emm everything ok?" "yeah yeah" The three of them went to a private waiting room and as Will closed the door Jay said "Bro, umm you are gonna kill me but please try not to get too mad" "Right… just tell me c'mon it can't be that bad" Jay and Mouse exchanged looks "I've been asked to come back to Afghanistan –he saw that Will was going to start yelling so he kept talking, but faster- it's just for one specific mission; a friend of mine was taken, we have to get him back and I'm sure it's not gonna last long" Will was speechless for like a whole freaking minute, till he took a deep –really deep- breath and said "Shit man, I hate this, and you know it, But if you have to come back for something like that, I would have done it too" Will hugged him strongly and said almost whispering "just promise me you'll be extra careful" "It's a deal"


	5. The last goodbye

**Author's note: hi guys! So chapter 5 is uuuup! I hope you like it, and as always pleaaaaaaaase review, it helps a lot. A few things I gotta clarify, first, the plane arrives at 11.45 right? But the thing is that it's actually 22.15 in Kabul (it`s kinda confusing, at least for me haha). Seeecond thing, I'm taking my time to write the following chapters, because I'm researching a lot about the weather, the geography and the people, cause if I'm gonna write this thing, I wanna do it right and not, you now, make things up.**

 **So, anyways, hope you like it and don't forget to review!**

 **Pd: (how was your valentine's day?** **hope good)**

Chapter 5: "the last goodbye"

It was seven pm when Jay was finally ready; after he visited his brother, he headed up to the precinct to pick up Erin -since he had settled things with his friend- and drop off Mouse. Then, they went to Jay's apartment. First of all, they had to dig out all of Jay's gear, which was the most complicated thing ever, why? Because since he left the army –years ago- he had kept all of his things locked in a safe, underneath tons of useless things. After they finally got them out, Jay went to put on his ranger uniform. "So, what kind of cloth do you need me to put in your bags?" Erin asked "Umm the warmest clothes you can find!" Jay yelled from the bathroom "Why?" "Cause luckily for me, December and January are the coldest months of the year, actually, one year it dropped to 10,4 Fº! **(-12Cº)** how cool is that?" Jay said sarcastically "ha, lucky you, more cold" replied Erin.

Erin was just finishing making the bags when Jay came out of the bathroom saying with a chuckle "I can't believe the uniform still fits me" Erin looked at him in amazement and said "I never thought my eyes would see you in that uniform" After that they glared at each other's eyes and Jay felt the urge to hug her, so he did; they kept in a tight hug for a while: Erin with her head hidden in his chest and Jay stroking her back. Erin lifted her face and they kissed softly, as if the moment was too delicate and the couple didn't want to destroy it.

When they arrived to the precinct and headed to the second floor, every single cop stared at Jay, because, obviously, it was the first time they saw him like a Ranger "I feel observed" whispered Jay to Erin. "Must be your ugly face" She said teasing him, "I'm beautiful, and you know that" Jay said giving her a soft nudge "Pff you wish" Erin laughed.

When they got upstairs, everyone was waiting for them and the second they got in, everyone shouted "SURPRIIISE" The team had set up some balloons and food over a table. Jay burst in laughter and said "thank guys, but I must say it was kinda obvious" Ruzek replied "We know! But it's fun anyways" He patted Jay's arm, gave him a cup with juice and said, raising his "to Halstead, a great detective and friend, cheers!" "CHEERS!" everyone was still drinking when Jay's cell started ringing; he answered "Halstead… Yes… ok… I'll go right away" Jay looked at the unit and said "They're waiting outside…." All the smiles dropped, but Erin, to cheer him up, said "But a photo first! You can't leave without one!" "Yeah!" someone said. So the unit –more like the family- gathered and called a rookie to take the picture. Once it was taken, Jay got a copy of it and then they were all hugs, goodbyes and "Skype soon or I'll kick your ass".

Erin walked Jay to the car and before he got in, she grabbed his arm and said, with a desperate look "Promise me you'll come back" Jay smiled at her and said "I don't promise, I _swear_ to you" They kissed for the last time, smiled at each other and Jay popped into the suv. Before closing the door she heard an "I love you" and the he was gone. Erin stayed there staring at the darkness wondering _"Was that the last one?"_

The entire way to the airport he thought only one thing, the same as Erin's " _Please, don't let that kiss to be the last"_ Jay sighted deeply and looked at the photo he had on his hand, he smiled at the memory of the moment and when he realized that they were at the airport he folded the photo and put it in one of the pockets of the hand bag. Jay got off of the car and walked until he spotted the tail of a darkish green military airplane. It was in special occasions like this, when the airport let the US air force to use a space for deployment and everything they needed. As he came closer to the stairs and saw the rigid figure of the general standing next to it, Jay slowed his pace and grabbed tightly the handles of his bags, as he thought, almost berating himself, " _Well Jay, people are relying on you, and we don't want to let them down, so man up and keep walking"_ He swiftly shook his head, inhaled deeply and walked decidedly. In no time he was in front of the General saluting him "Sergeant Halstead reporting for duty, sir!" The man saluted back and said "Glad you didn't back up soldier, most people would have" the General gave him a cocky smile and continued talking "But we are not most people, aren't we Sergeant?" Jay couldn't help but grin at the statement and reply "No, Sir".

It had been over two hours since the plane took off and Jay was terribly bored and uncomfortable, the reason? military planes are not as the commercial ones, with TV's and comfortable seats, these are a whole different story: they have only two rows of seats, each one attached to one side of the plane -naturally, this was a strategic position, in case they needed to jump off the plane or similar emergency situations- and they were hard as wood and they weren't reclining, so you had to sleep in a 90º position. There's no need to say that even though Jay had traveled a lot like this, it had been a while since his last ride, so his back felt really sore, that's why he left the seat and paced silently through one side of the plane to another to stretch his legs and his back. He was quiet, because the General had fallen asleep within minutes of the takeoff and he didn't want to wake him up.

As he kept walking, the silence overwhelmed him, he was so used to the continuous noise of the precinct and his teammates, but he thought specially of Erin's voice and smiling nostalgically he unconsciously grabbed Mouse's dog tags and felt the letters and numbers under the touch of his fingertips. His friend was right, he did feel closer to them with the dog tags and that made his muscles to relax, until then, he hadn't notice how tense and tired he was. " _I need to sleep, after all, now that I'm back I gotta get used to this again"_ After that, he sat and closed his eyes, and as he was feeling asleep he heard Erin's soft and raspy voice "Good night babe" He smiled and said half asleep "You too Er, you too…"


	6. Arrival

**As promised! Here it it chaaaapter siiix! I made it extra long jult for you guys xo**

Chapter 6: "Arrival"

Jay woke up when a loud clanging noise filled the air. He opened his eyes slowly, still a little disorientated, but a bright light left him blind for a few seconds forcing him to close them. When he opened his eyes for the second time, he blinked for a few times to focus his vision and saw the General already at the stairs looking at him amused, saying "You coming Sergeant?" Jay's cheeks blushed and he stood up and replied, as he gathered his things with a quick move, "Yes sir".

The first thing he felt when he got out of the plane was the freezing air whipping his face and entering his lungs. He closed his eyes at the sudden change and stood still as the memories flooded him.

" _Hey guys, there comes the new guy!"_

 _Unit Bravo was outside the Humvee at the airport waiting for the replacement of a buddy of them that had recently finished his last tour. They were all anxious to meet the newbie and evilly looking forward to haze him later._

" _Hey Mouse" said the team leader "How does it feels like not to be the new one anymore?" The youngest Ranger replied with a full grin "Awesome, now I can finally get to do the pranks"_

 _Everyone was laughing, and still with smiles on their faces they focused on the blond head in front of them when he coughed to get their attention. "Jay Halstead - he said with a firm voice, shacking Sergeant's hand- nice to meet you all"  
"You look like a kid" exclaimed a gigantic, really muscular, tall Ranger. "Come on guys let's be nice and professionals, if he's here it's because he made it here. Am I right Halstead?" asked the leader with a powerful look.  
"Yes sir, I'm the best at what I do and I will not disappoint you"  
The men looked at each other and laughed. "You got balls kid, I like it" said the tall guy. As they walked to the humvee, one of them tapped Jay's back and said "hey don't worry about Duane (the stout ranger) he likes to mess around and scares the crap out of everyone, but he a nice guy, you'll get use to it- he smiled and shook Jay's hand- I'm Mouse by the way, nice to meet you too"._

A shiver running through his spine brought him back to reality and covering his neck and hands to protect himself from the cold, he hurried up to the humvee. Once he was inside, he thought about the first time he got here, and now. It was so different - he was so different- but at the same time so similar. When he looked out the window the view astonished him, but also saddened him. Kabul is not what you may say a vivid place, everything seems lifeless; whether it was a woman, a building or a child playing in the street, they all have something in common: the lack of color. It's actually very impressive to see such thing, to see one sandy color in all things. It is like the grains of sand are attached to every particle. The dirt makes you feel heavier and your throat dry. That's why Jay hated this place so much, because at the end of the day your eyes can't distinguish between sand, dirt, shit or a living thing, it all looks the same. "But at least it's winter", he thought. That was the only place where he was grateful for the white snow covering the surfaces; it made it real.

When he got to the base, the sun had already disappeared from the sky and the glow from the stars and the moon made strange shadows in the sand moving slowly with the wind. It was beautiful and captivating, yes, but for Jay and the other soldiers it produced them an eerie feeling, because in war, the silence and darkness –especially when combined- turn into your enemies and it always seems that something or someone is hiding there, waiting to attack.

Inside the base he felt the eerie feeling partially leaving him. They popped out of the humvee and a young dark-haired soldier, who had been standing there, walked towards Jay. "Sir, I'm Private Williams, nice to meet you" he shook Jay's hand and added "Before you go to your room I've been ordered to take you to your unit and General Coleman for debrief" Jay was dead tired but, how could you say not to that?. He gave the Private a tired smile and said "Ok, let's go".

Jay entered a room with a big circular table at the center of it; six men were seated around it, some of them where talking, but you could see how tired they all where. He was just going to present himself to the unit when he heard "HOLLY SH-T!" form someone to his left, startled from the sudden yelling he turned his head at the exact time he was pulled into the most solid hug ever, forcing his lungs to release all the air _. That voice, it's so familiar_ Jay thought. When the hug ended, and saw the man standing in front of him, his face broke into a smile and said with a laugh "damn Duane, long time no see" "Sure it's kid, what's it been, like three years?" Jay nodded "yeah sort of" The remaining soldiers looked puzzled at the interaction between the guys and noticing this, Jay cleared his throat and looking at them, said "Hi, I'm staff sergeant Jay Halstead, nice to meet you all" he shook hands and continued "if you were wondering Tiny and I served tours together"

At the mention of the nickname everyone laughed and one of them said with amusement "well it certainly suits you" at that, Tiny replied with a half smile "shut up streets". Jay was about to ask about that name, when the General walked in with files under his arms. The unit stood up saluting him and then sat when General Coleman told them "at ease gentleman" after that, he handed each one of them a file and said with a sight "Well it's great that you're getting to know each other and all, but I want a proper introduction, so Commander, you have the word" The man that stood up had a furious ginger hair and was tall and not muscular, but he had a strong and determined look on his face. He looked at everyone like studying them for a few seconds and then –finally- said "I'm a commander Gerald McLaughlin, but everyone calls me G for obvious reasons" He smiled as he heard the laughs "I've served three tours with the navy, seal team 6; my specialty is strategies and I'm going to be leading this unit, I'm looking forward to meeting you all and I expect the best of everyone and hopefully to success in the mission, thank you" he gave a sharp nod and sat as he looked to the man sitting at his right. the man stood up and seemed uncomfortable for all the attention; Jay frowned as he thought _that's weird, he's afghan._ The man with the aquiline nose started speaking very quickly and with a thick accent "My name is Joshua Assaf and I'm not a soldier like you mister, but I'll be helping you with the translation" Jay and Tiny looked at each other sharing a look that said _since when we have civilians working for us?_

Then came the black-haired man; he just said "I'm Corporal Derek Jackson, I'm the medic" the men waited expecting something else and catching that he wasn't going to, they laughed at the poor introduction "plain and simple, I like it man" Tony "streets" Wilson said patting his harm and after a few moments he jumped "Oh it's my turn, okay" He shifted his position, but didn't stand causing the General to roll his eyes at the childish guy in front of him. "I'm Tony Wilson, just call me streets. I'm the explosives guy, you get the nickname" he winked and added quickly with a thumbs up "oh and I'm a Corporal" the unit laughed loudly at the disperse guy. The general interrupted with an amused tone "please let's move it we don't have all day soldiers" Duane came next; when he stood up everyone had to look up to see his face "I'm Ranger Sergeant Duane Walker, call me tiny…" he was interrupted by streets who raised his hand asking "I'm puzzled, what do you do?" the unit apparently hadn't thought about it and gave a curious look to tiny "well –he said- I was just getting there, I specialize at interrogations" Jay just looked at tiny and laughed with him at everyone faces. _Oh sh-t my turn, okay_ he thought "As I said before I'm staff sergeant Jay Halstead with the Rangers, I'm the sniper guy" when he sat tiny said loudly "you can call him snake eyes" Jay just rolled his eyes "Yeah you can call me that" The two men left introduced themselves very quickly, one, very young with blond hair was Ralf Schultz, he was the tec guy that was going to stay in command post. The other one was very small but slim; he was Ryan Wolfe and the one who would drive them. Closing the debrief the General said "Well, good, now go to your rooms, read the files and we'll see each other here at 0600 tomorrow"

"Finally!" Jay exclaimed lifting his arms as he threw himself onto the bed, he sighed nostalgically when his gaze fell on the picture of his _other_ unit back in Chicago, forcing himself up he went the computer room. _I have to speak to them_ he thought as he connected Skype.

Back in Chicago snow fell all around the buildings; today was a very boring and unproductive day, the intelligence unit was dead quiet, you could feel in the air something was different, well of course _Jay isn't here_ Erin thought sadly as she looked over _his_ desk. They were going to start looking for a replacement and no one was looking forward to it, not even Voight even though sometimes the kid got into is nerves. The only sound was the typing of Mouse, but other noise filled the room. Everyone froze and stopped what they were doing, not knowing where it came from. "What's that?" Antonio asked. They kept quiet trying to figure it out and all of the sudden Erin yelled "Skype, it's the freaking skype!" she ran to the computer with the others behind her; her heart skipped a beat when she read _incoming call for: Jay Halstead_ Mouse pressed the button and a very tired but smiling face appeared on the screen. "Hi guys"

 **Weeeell I hope you enyoed it, as always please revieeeeeew! Did you like it? Which guy did you like the most in jay's unit? I love streets don't you? Hahah**

 **Have a good week! Love y'all**

 **Pd: don't worry action is coming soon….**


	7. Mikal

**Hi again! Omggg I hope you like it! I wanted to write more but I also wanted to leave the cliffhanger hahahah please remember to REVIEW, seriously guys, it's just a click, please!**

 _Previously:_

" _Skype, it's the freaking skype!" she ran to the computer with the others behind her; her heart skipped a beat when she read_ _incoming call from: Jay Halstead_ _Mouse pressed the button and a very tired but smiling face appeared on the screen. "Hi guys"_

Everyone's gaze softened at the view in front of them: Jay was ok. Since he left, the unit had been worried sick for him, because he hadn't call as soon as he landed and they imagined the worst case scenarios. But now, seeing him smiling made them smile too and finally relax their tensed faces. Everyone started to shoot questions at him almost yelling; you could barely understand anything. When the commotion finally passed, Ruzek asked "what's so funny man?" as he –and soon the rest of the team- saw the amused look on Jay's face. With a smirk and shocking his head he said "I didn't get anything of what y'all said, you guys miss me that much already ah?" The unit laughed at that "Nah you?" said Ruzek "Never, we just made a bet on when were you gonna call us and I won" He was gonna high five with Atwater when an elbow landed on his side "Ow!, why would you do that Erin!" he said faking hurt. Erin just smiled "Liar" Then, Antonio, looking at the computer said "Man of course we miss you" he added, pointing at Ruzek and Atwater "and you left us taking care of this two children here, that's just cruel man". From both sides of the world everyone burst into laughter. They kept talking for a while when suddenly Jay yelled like remembering something "Mouse! Man you'll never guess who's in my unit!" Mouse jumped at the sudden outburst but frowned thinking for a bit, then he said with a full smile "I bet is that idiot of Tiny" Jay crossed his arms as if he was offended by the answer "how did you guess?" His friend just laughed "I'm smart like that" he was going to tell a joke, but he suddenly noticed the tiredness on Jay's face, and with a tone of urgency in his voice he asked very seriously "Jez Jay you look like crap, have you even slept?" All the voices died, when they realized the dark circles under Jay's eyes and the pallor in his face. All of them frowned in concern. Voight added, in a berating tone "Halstead you should have told us, you need the sleep, how long since you last slept?" Jay sighed seeing there was no escaping this one, his gaze met with Erin's worried one and could not lie, so he said, rubbing his eyes and hair "I umm, had some sleep in the flight but wasn't much" at the other side of the screen Erin broke the silence "It would be best if you go to sleep, you need it" hen finger pointing accusingly at him "you better get some rest, you hear me? You are no use if you're not getting some" he just smiled feeling his heart clenching at the concern of his friends "Will do, promise" As soon as he said that, a yawn escaped his mouth, making everyone snigger. Eris clapped her hands, saying "Ok time to say goodbye guys" After they all left, Erin couldn't make herself to press the button to end the call. Her hurt, concerned eyes looked at Jay "I… just…" She sighed "Just be careful Jay, please?" He gave her a lopsided smile and replied, his voice thick with emotions "Of course" they stared in silence for a few moments and soon the voice of Jay filled it "Erin you know I'll come back, please don't worry" He sighted in frustration _I hate this, not being there_ he thought " I gotta go, I'm sorry hon" Erin hold back the tears, not wanting the moment to end, but there's nothing she could do about it, so she gave him a small, supportive smile and said "I know, love you" "Love you too Er" Both of them placed a kiss with their fingertips on the screen and then it went blank.

Sighing deeply, Jay forced himself up and walked towards his bedroom walking at a really slow pace, almost falling from the lack of sleep. When he finally arrived, he just threw himself onto the bed and then, unfortunately, he remembered that he had to read the file. "Shit" Groaning he stretched his arm and grabbed the file. Sitting in the bed he opened it, it said 'classified' all over it, some lines were painted in black so you couldn't read them. The first pages were a brief resume of the men in is unit; he skipped those and moved onto the hard stuff: recon, the mission, the geography and so on. His eyes widened in surprise when he read "Recon mission, starts on December 19th at 0800" Angrily, Jay thought _That is tomorrow, what the hell? We're gonna go on a recon mission without knowing the team?_ There was nothing he could do about it so he scratched his head in exasperation and kept reading. "First destination of Unit Alfa-Delta-6-0-4 will be the village of Bamyan. The trip will be made by convoys and its duration is of: 2 hours and 45 minutes. Then, Mr. Joshua Assaf will serve as a guide to the final destination, which is the mountain of Koh-e Baba (Kuh-I Baba) which has an elevation of 4.591 meters, it is located at the south of Bamyan. There, the unit will stay a maximum of five days, in order to observe any suspicious activity that might lead them to the missing Sergeant. Do not intervene unless the situation requires it and with full confirmation of the superiors. The following map shows the possible area where the insurgents might be holding Sergeant Rodríguez" After two hours of studying everything, Jay was finally going to sleep, tiredly he rubbed his eyes, left the file in the nightstand and turned off the lights; the poor man was so dead that he was out in a matter of seconds.

The next morning he was awakened when he felt something landing on his face, he slowly opened his eyes and saw Tiny above him looking at him with a frown. "Your sure sleep well Snake eyes, I tried to wake you up for the last ten minutes" and with a smile he joked "Chicago softened you kid, maybe I should change the nickname, what do you thing?" Jay just groaned in response "Shut up, you're disturbing me" he tried to roll to the other side of the bed but his sheets where pulled away making him shiver "What the hell Tiny?!" Jay looked at him in the eye and realized "Oh shit, what time is it?" laughing, the huge man responded "I thought you'd never asked, it's 0550, you have ten" with that he just disappeared leaving Jay alone. He showered, dressed and ate, all in ten minutes. He run to the main room for the briefing and saw the amusement on everyone's faces "What?!" Jay asked irritated, Streets laughed loudly and said "Your shirt's the other way around man" Jay looked down "Damn" he then changed it quickly and sat. "And I thought you had made a new record snake" Jay grinned and replied "Almost tiny, almost" They were still with smiles on their faces when the General walked in. Without acknowledging the salute, he started speaking "Gentleman, as you all know, the recon mission starts in about" he looked at his watch and continued "two hours. The file said it all, the only thing I can add is to remind you that if you have nicknames, use them, also, is not a long mission, but remember the low temperatures, don't be fooled by appearances, you'll have to climb and the mountain is filled with ice and snow. Be careful" He nodded and was just about to leave, when he turned around to add something "You'll be given headsets and will be using line 2. Thank you and good luck" with that he left. Streets clapped his hands and said "Well that was fun, see you guys in two hours" One by one they stood up and stormed out of the room to get ready except Tiny and Jay. The big man knew his friend too much, he could tell he was troubled, that's why he stayed behind. He crossed his arms and asked "What's wrong kid?" Jay turned his head in surprise and sighing said "I just, hmmm I hoped it could speak to my unit in Chicago again, but there's no time" and with a lighter tome added "I know I've became softer" "No snake you're not, I was just teasing you, of course you want to speak to them and I guess particularly to the lovely lady I saw on the photo you have in your room" he gave him a funny look, moving his eyebrows up and down. Jay rolled his eyes and patting him on the arm said "yeah we're dating, she's great" Tiny stood up and grinning he spoke "I know the feeling Snake, I got kids and a wife, don't worry man, we all have our backs"

Somewhere in the mountains a cell phone rang. Inside of a dark, windowless room, a man with strong complexion stopped his arm from falling onto the bloodied and disfigured face in front of him. He cleaned his hands on a towel hanging by a chair and answered. "Yes?" while the other voice spoke the face of the man changed in one of pleasant surprise "Understood" then he ended the call and approaching the man tied to the chair in the middle of the room, he whispered him in the ear in an evil tone "We are going to have some visitors soon and I'm going to kill them all" At that, the battered man lifted his head with great difficulty and spat on his captor's face, saying with a trembling voice "Fuck you" The man wiped fiercely his face and signaled to the man guarding at the door. The guards put a hood on the prisoner's head and then the man who spoke on the phone left. Knocking and opening a door far from the small room he said "Sir, our contact has news" Seeing the triumphant smile on the man the other one, sitting at a desk, said "tell me Mikal"

 **Tan Taaaan who do you think is the contact!? What will happen to the unit? Tell me and review!**


	8. Who can you trust?

**O MY GOD I really hope you like this chapter, It was a challenge for me. Enjoy! PLEASE REVIEW** **!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Chicago pd or the characters**

 _Previously:_

 _Knocking and opening a door far from the small room he said "Sir, our contact has news" Seeing the triumphant smile on the man the other one, sitting at a desk, said "tell me Mikal"_

" _Alfa Delta, do you cop_ y _?_ " The minutes went flying as the soldiers arranged all their equipment and now they had only thirty minutes left before the recon mission started, so G was testing the headsets before going to the mission; he didn't want to risk their safety and the mission over a broker headset. Ryan said " _Loud and clear Sarge_ ". Immediately Streets started teasing the guy _"Finally! I thought you died Ryan, good to her 'ya" "Shut up_ _ **Anthony**_ _"_ over the comns you could hear several _"ooooh"_ and laughs. Faking being mad, Streets replied _"Oh man you are soo dead, only my mom calls me that"_. After the childish interaction, G said warningly _"Ok guys enough fun for now, so this line, line 2, is going to be used by us and line 4 for command post where Ralf will for anything, roger?"_ all of them replied _"Roger that"._

Jay stepped out of his tent closing his eyes and breathing profoundly as the cold breeze of the morning hit him. In that moment, as ironic as it sounds, he felt in peace. He thought _Ridiculous right? I'm in the middle of war and I feel calm._ He laughed at the statement and stayed like that for a few moments until he felt the paper in his hand and remembered the important deliver he had to make before the unit rolled out. His gaze fell to the thin envelope in his left hand. Feeling the peace being replaced for anxiousness, he jogged to a bigger tent to his left. Once he reached it, he looked for the man that everyone in the camp knew as "Hermes". The nickname actually started as a joke when people started comparing him to the Greek god that was a messenger, but in no time, everyone at the camp knew him by that, actually, almost no one knew his real name. "Hey Hermes! Got a package for you!" Yelled Jay when he spotted him. A bald head shot up and when he saw the young man in front of him a smile crept on his face. "Well if it isn't Snake himself, how 'ya being doing kid?" he asked with a thick southern accent "I've been great, thanks for asking. Hey I'm heading out and I need you to send this ASAP" Jay's face became serious as he gave the letter to the man. Hermes, understanding the importance, gave the young ranger a sharp nod and said "Top priority kid, don't worry" A wave of relief flooded Jay's body "Than…"The loud voice of G in his ear made him stop talking " _Guys we're ready to roll. Head to north exit_ " Quickly Jay answered " _Copy that_ " He looked apologetically at Hermes and said "Sorry man, have to go, thank you!" and he waved at him. The older soldier waved back and looked at the precious cargo he was holding, it said **Intelligence unit. 3510 S.** **Michigan Ave** **nue** **Chicago, Illinois** **, U.S.** he quickly made the arrangements and put it on the to send box next to the table. He always had wondered what those letters said; he shrugged the thought and started typing on the keyboard.

Once the six men were installed in the humvee -Ryan as the driver; G as his copilot; Tiny, Derek and Joshua in the back row and Jay in the back installed with his rifle ready to fire in case of an attack- G turned his head to look at is men and said with a powerful and confident voice "Let's go find our guy" after a pause he shout "Hooha!" and everyone replied with the same determination "Hooha!" Jay felt the familiar energy vibrating under his skin, the adrenalin was pumping strong in his ears as he remembered his days in the army. A memory slipped in his mind, one he didn't want to remember. The IED incident that made him walk away from this life…

 _Unit Bravo was having a blast: they were in the humvee returning from patrolling the streets of Kabul and now they had two days off. They were laughing at something Mouse said, even their Sarge was and he was serious as a stone, not that he didn't like or care for his men, but he was naturally stoic. "Josh, o my God you have to take a pic of the Sarge, fast it's disappearing!" Jay said rapidly pointing at their sergeant. More laughs filled the air when their team leader just shook his head in amusement. Jay high fived with his friends and sat on the floor, absently keeping guard, just like the rest of them. That was their mistake. Not that they could have prevented it, but maybe, just maybe, someone might have seen the bump on the side of the road._

 _Suddenly a strenuous noise exploded in their ears as the right side of the vehicle was lifted off the ground. It was so unexpected; their only reaction was to just hang with a death grip to anything that might prevent them from smashing their heads, it wasn't enough though._

 _The now dark, filled with smoke humvee twirled in the air several times before it finally landed roughly on its roof. An eerie silence followed the explosion. The only sounds were of the flames surrounding the vehicle, but no soldier made a noise. Jay was the first one to wake up, unfortunately. The first thing he felt was a loud annoying beep on his ears, he didn't understand anything, what happened? He thought. He had no idea. After several minutes he started to notice more of his surroundings: the heat and the pain. When the adrenaline started to disappeared, an involuntary groan of unimaginable pain left his mouth. With trembling hands he probed the wound: a piece of metal was poking out of his lower abdomen. Then, he remembered. He opened his eyes and searched frantically for his teammates. Through hurtful coughs he managed to whisper "Sar… sarge? M… ouse?" When he heard no response he started to panic, but he controlled his breathings and maneuvered to get himself out of the humvee. Once he was out he saw the first one. He fell to his knees as he shook desperately the shoulders of his friend "Mouse open your eyes please, please open them" Slowly, his eyelids opened and with confusion he asked "wha…?" "Shhh don't worry, you're ok, just stay here and don't fall asleep ok?" tiredly he answered "k…" Once Jay got them all out of the burning -soon to explode- vehicle, he fearfully checked his teammate's vitals. When he only got three –besides Mouse- He started sniffing and shaking uncontrollably until Mouse asked for him in a pleading tone. Jay crawled to his friend's side -unable to stand anymore- and tenderly put Mouse's head on his lap "Yeah man?" Mouse looked at him with unfocused eyes and asked sluggishly "Wha…t happn.. ay?" Looking at the horrible view in front of him, tears started streaming down his face and he answered "A bomb, a fucking bomb"_

Jay was pulled out of his terrible memories when the humvee hit a small rock on the road and it slightly swayed; he stiffened at the feeling but rapidly shrugged it off. _What are the chances right?_

The rest of the trip went without any more eventualities and soon they had reached Bamyan. They humped down of the vehicle and Ryan, accompanied by Joshua, who would translate, went to pay someone to keep the humvee safe. The rest of the men studied their surroundings and their final destination, the gigantic mountain of Koh-e Baba. Once they secured the perimeter the unit started jogging at a slow pace so Joshua could catch up with their pace, after all, he wasn't a soldier. After three and a half hours the light in the sky started to blur and soon stars appeared bright on the dark roof on top of them. Around that time Joshua told them to stop and G lifted his hand in a fist ordering the same thing. The soldiers formed a circle and G started speaking. "We've reached our final destination" Looking intensely at the map in the middle of the circle he continued "Snake find a perch position and take Joshua with you, we don't need him under fire" Jay just nodded and said "Copy that" He grabbed his bag and started walking away from the group immediately, because with his earpiece he would hear the plan just fine. G and Derek would be going by the east side and Streets and Ryan by the west, the idea was to clear it as a circle. Jay had found the perfect spot, so he rapidly took out his sniper rifle and lay down in the sniper position, when he was all set he said in a low and steady voice " _sniper in position"_ as soon as they heard that, the team started to clear the area. What Jay didn't notice was the surreptitious movement Joshua was making with his hands, with the left one he was discretely calling someone and with right one he took out a hidden gun.

Jay was looking through the scope when he heard the familiar click behind his temple and slowly raised his hands. "Not a word" Joshua removed Jay's headset and took his rifle, then he tied his hands behind his back with plastic zips and still with the gun pressed against the back of his head he called the number again. Jay's mind was working miles per second, he knew since the first second that something was off with Assaf and now they were screwed. He couldn't do anything but listen and what he heard terrified him to his core: they were going to kill _his_ teammates, his brother's in arms. _Hell no._ He thought as the kicked the guys private parts making the other one kneel in pain, he smiled inwardly, but there was no time for victory dances or anything, he acted quickly and professional. He kicked the man again, but now in the head, dazing him. In a fraction of a second he laboriously recovered his headset from the ground and yelled " _RETREAT, RETREAT, IT'S A…"_ Jay words fell of his mouth as something hard landed on his head making him fall on the ground unconscious. His face was covered in blood from the head wound and some of it fell to the ground forming a small pool of blood.

The unit dropped dead on their tracks as soon as they heard the warning yell at the other side of the line, they efficiently took covert and kept silent. G asked with concern _"team status!"_ he heard three " _no harm"_ but not from his sniper. With dread he asked again "Snake, status now!" when they heard no response they started to formulate a plan to get the hell out of there. When they were done G changed to line 4. _"Command post, here unit Alfa Delta 604 warning: we have walked into a trap. All unit members accounted for, except for staff sergeant Halstead who was at the sniper perch and Joshua Assaf who was with him. Over"_ An immediate response came "C _opy that_. _Retrieve to safety. Impossible to send backup units. If possible, search for unaccounted unit members, if not, contact with command. Over"_ As soon as the heard the _"Copy"_ From G they turn all of their lights and moved in a slow and calculated pace changing positions every time a shot was heard, but they were impossible to be seen. Finally they reached the sniper perch. Streets was the first one to talk "What the hell was that!" he whispered angrily, then Tiny boiling with rage stated "I think Assaf was their insight man"

Jay slowly regained consciousness. When he tried to move his hands he noticed he was tightly bound to a chair, his legs too. He tried to free himself, but the only thing he got was the rope cutting through his flesh. Sighing he noticed it was pointless and that he wasn't getting out of it. Then, he started to raise his head. A throbbing headache made his world spin for a few seconds and when he regain some control he forced himself to look at his surroundings. The room was so dark that he had to wait for a few minutes until his eyes adjusted to the lack of light. When his headache subdued a little bit and was able to look a bit more he traced a map on his head in case they blindfolded him. What he didn't notice was the man chained to a chair next to him until the other one said with despair "Shit snake! They got you to?" Jay was so shocked at the battered man, that the only words that left his mouth were "You look like crap"


	9. Captive

**Hi guys! Here goes chapter nine! Please read my notes!**

 **First: Thanks to all the awesome readers that reviewed!**

 **Second: please review, it's really hard for me to write a story – a good one al least- in another language. If you don't review I can't know if you hate or like the story. I love when you guys leave me your thought (even the bad ones)**

 **Third: enjoy!**

 **Chapter 9**

 _Previously_

 _Jay slowly regained consciousness. When he tried to move his hands he noticed he was tightly bound to a chair, his legs too. He tried to free himself, but the only thing he got was the rope cutting through his flesh. Sighing he noticed it was pointless and that he wasn't getting out of it he started to raise his head. A throbbing headache made his world spin for a few seconds and when he regain some control he forced himself to look at his surroundings. The room was so dark that he had to wait for a few minutes until his eyes adjusted to the lack of light. When his headache subdued a little bit and was able to look a bit more he traced a map on his head in case they blindfolded him. What he didn't notice was the man chained to a chair next to him until the other one said with despair "Shit snake! They got you to?" Jay was so shocked at the battered man, that the only words that left his mouth were "You look like crap"_

Alan tried to laugh but his voice was filled with painful coughs as he closed his eyes, trying to normalize his breathings. Jay's face fell regretting what he had said and looking at his friend in deep concern and sorry he said "I'm so sorry man" and then he battered himself in a low whisper "fucking idiot". When the coughs subsided Alan tiredly looked at his friend "You are not an idiot" he sighed and said with a ragged voice "Don't worry snake, I would have said the same thing" At that, Jay nodded in understanding and to give his friend some rest, he focused in his hands and kept trying to release himself from the rope, making more and deeper cuts in his wrists; even though every miniscule movement caused him unbearable pain " _I have to get us out of here"_ he thought in urgency. Alan, noticing his friend's slight whimpers, he sighed and said "Not gonna work mate, already tried" Jay followed his gaze and saw the open and bloodied flesh that surrounded the ties. Horrified he stopped, realizing that it was useless and stupid; he needed his hands if he wanted to get free. Jay was getting more and more nervous and all he could do was bit his lips in frustration, he couldn't even bounce his leg. In anger, he said "Shit!" Incapable to look at his friend from the guilt he was feeling, he looked at the floor and said "Alan, I… I don't know how to get us outta here. I'm sorry" Frowning, Aland exclaimed in anger "What?! Snake look at me, all this" he said pointing at his body "those sons of bitches did it, not you. We'll find a way out, we always do" With a new found determination, Jay said "Ok, then let's make a plan. Tell me everything, their routines, how many people are here, everything" After a moment of thought, Alan started talking "Okay so there are a total of ten men, two guard this door, inside when Mikal is here. If nothing has changed since I first got here, two guard the only door of the compound, the one in the front, three more do surrounding checks every thirty minutes and there is one for their boss. That's all I know, I'm sorry, they keep me blindfolded most of the time, I can't even tell if it is day or night, this room is so fucking dark"

Swallowing his frustration, Jay asked as calmly as he could "What about the food?" Shrugging he said "No idea, they don't give it to me regularly. I tried to keep track of time, but they made it impossible. How long have I been here anyway?" After mentally calculating how long it has been Jay sighed "6 or 7 days, I don't know how long I've been out" suddenly he remembered the threat to the camp "Alan, the bomb. That's what they want to know, right? How much you know? What is the target?" Alan opened his mouth, but before he could even make a sound the door burst open, revealing a muscular and tall man that entered with an enervating smirk on his face. Jay expertly looked at his friend for less than a second, silently asking if that was Mikal, Alan gave him an imperceptible nod and they both returned their attention to the man in front of them. Mikal kicked the door shut and dragging an abandoned chair that was in a corner of the room he sit in front of Jay. In an attempt to intimidate his prisoner, he stared at him for a couple of minutes, but Jay didn't back up, he wouldn't show any fear. _"The moment you show them fear, you're dead"_ Memories of his training flooded him, but there was one in particular that would save them, but he just couldn't remember. _What was it?_ He knew he was missing something, but couldn't place his finger on it. Hiding his exasperation, Mikal gave them a mocking smile and clasping his hands he said "You think you are so tough, don't you? Let's see how tough you'll be in a couple of minutes"

Jay was actually terrified, I'd be impossible not to be, but he wouldn't let it win, so he swallowed hard and started to make sniper breathings to calm his pulse. On the outside, however, he kept a perfect practiced poker face. Mikal threw the chair to the opposite side of the room as he stood up and kept talking calmly when he reached an instrument inside of a cloth that was on a table near the door. "I know you and Rodriguez know each other, and I also know that he knows about the bombs" Jay felt his blood being drained out of his body when he heard that " _bombs? There's more than one?"_ Mikal turned with a thoughtful look twirling the knife on his hands. He pointed the knife at Alan's face and continued with a threatening tone "What I _don't_ know is if you told anyone" He then pointed the bright object to Jay and said still looking at Alan "What I also know is that you won't talk if I hurt _you_ " Jay didn't even had time to let the words sink when Mikal's arm reached furiously his chest, leaving a long -but not too deep- cut on his chest, making him scream in agony at the sudden explosion of pain. At the same time Alan screamed, insulted and shook his body in a vain attempt to help his friend. Mikal cruelly played with the knife, bringing it close to Jay's face and yelled at Alan "You have the power to stop the pain; you are doing this, YOU! Do you want it to stop? Then tell me!" Battling with himself Alan upsettingly looked at Jay, begging for an answer. Jay looked at his friend's troubled eyes and through the sharp and painful breathings; he managed to say "Don't give him anything Alan, I don't blame you" Mikal, boiling with anger threw a punch so hard to Jay's face that sent him to the welcoming dark.

Meanwhile, in Chicago, Erin found herself gasping for air, suddenly awakened by a nightmare. With a hand on her chest and looking at the photo of Jay and her, she cried "Jay".

At Snake's sniper perch, unit Alfa-Delta was arguing. "We gotta go get him!" "Yeah! Why won't we go NOW?!" the four men kept yelling until G, pissed, exclaimed "Everyone silence!" The remaining men, obeying their Commander, reluctantly listened to his words. "We _are_ going to get both of them, but we can't go in there blindly, that would be suicidal. What we are going to do is I'll ask Schultz to search the vehicle by satellite, then, _if_ he gets a location, we'll make an extraction plan" after looking at everyone's faces, he added "Am I understood?" the unit, having realized the stupidity of their actions, vigorously said "Yes sir!" "Okay, let's find our guy" G pressed his headset and stated _"Here unit Alfa-Delta, need to talk to Schultz ASAP. Over" "I'm here for you guys. What happened? Over" "We need you to find where are they keeping Jay by satellite. Over" "Copy that Sarge"_


	10. rescue?

**Chapter 10**

 **Hey guys! I'm back! I'm so sorry I didn't post, I was on exams period, but I'm finally finishing everything.**

 **Disclaimer: do not own this show**

 **HAPPY FATHER'S –late I know- TO EVERYONE! 3**

 **Remember to review and leave me your ideas**

 _Previously_

" _Here unit Alfa-Delta, need to talk to Schultz ASAP. Over" "I'm here for you guys. What happened? Over" "We need you to find where are they keeping Jay by satellite. Over" "Copy that Sarge"_

* _24 hours later*_

Jay was having one of the worst nightmares he had ever had. Through the gloomy surroundings he could see defaced shadows; their dim hands reaching for his chest. When they touched his skin, a piercing pain cut through his flesh and bones, burning everything in its path. He could feel himself sweating and could hear some faint screams on the background, but he just _couldn't wake up._ After a second, third and then fourth wave of pain attacked him, his eyes finally snapped open, only to realize that the screams were coming from his own mouth and that the nightmare wasn't actually one, but that he was being electrocuted by Mikal. _Oh, so that's what it was…_ When his abductor saw the momentary confused look on is prisoner, he turned the power off with a cocky smile. After a few moments of trying to recompose himself from the assault, Jay managed to control the painful breathings that passed through his throat, torn form screaming. He looked at Mikal with tired eyes and said sluggishly "He's… n… not gon…na giv..e you an..anything" he gave Alan a reassured look and finally said "Yo..u are wa…ais..ting you…r t…time". The only thing that kept both the soldiers sane was the mojos from their days in boot camp, that repeated themselves in an endless loop on their heads _DON'T SHOW FEAR; TAKE CONTROL OF THE SITUATION; DON'T TALK; DON'T SHOW FEAR; TAK…_ Enraged at Jay's words, Mikal stoop up –throwing the chair as he did- and threw a fiery punch to his now very damaged ribs, cutting off his air and then, looking and pointing a butcher's knife to Alan's face he screamed; his face red from rage "when I come back YOU BETTER TELL ME EVERYTHING or else I will torture your friend so hard HE'LL BEG FOR ME TO KILL HIM" He wasn't even finished his ranting, when he ferociously took the shock stick and pressed it hard onto Jay's abdomen. Waves of burning electricity ran through his body, but he refused to show pain. He was _not_ going to back down, so Jay clenched his jaw and hands, making is palms bleed from the hard contact with his nails and shut his eyes waiting for the pain to end. After painful seconds, Mikal broke contact with Jay's battered body and tossed it angrily at the floor. With that, he and the two guards left, slamming the door in the process.

After a few minutes of waiting for the pain to subside, Jay said in a vain attempt of joking, breathing heavily "Well… that wa..s fun" Alan looked at him with dull eyes "Jay we gotta get outta here. If not, we are good as dead, you hear me?!" Looking at Alan, Jay whispered "I know, you think that I was wasting my time here or what?"A very beaten and swollen face looked at him in surprise and then gave him an amused smile as he said "What happened to your voice, eh Snake?" Jay gave him a small smile and shrugged –as much as he could, anyway- "told you I had a plan" "Nice acting Snake, now Mikal thinks you can't even move" Jay winked at him and glancing occasionally at the door, he started speaking with caution "This is what were are going to do"

Unit Alfa-Delta was not even close to finding their missing member. The satellite didn't catch anything, because the images were from two hours before everything happened; now Schultz was waiting for the new images, in case he could see _something._

It was late at night, when the group found a small cave near Jay's sniper perch, in order to protect themselves from their enemies, both human and nature. Tired from the silence, the cold and the impotence of not being able to do anything for his friend, Tiny gave a hard kick to the wall, and with his hands clenched in fists he said in a sharp whisper "Commander, will all due respect, I'm not going to sit around while Snake and Alan are out there probably being held and tortured by God knows who" The rest of the team, minus G, looked at their leader anxiously waiting for an answer. G passed his hands through his face and hair and then, with a tired voice said "I want him back as much as you, but…" he interrupted himself when he saw Tiny's body stiffening; he gave him an authoritative look and said "Yes, I _do_ care for _every_ member of this unit Master Corporal. But, I won't risk five lives by going blindly on a dangerous situation" looking at every man he continued "my _job_ is to keep _you_ safe and bring you home alive. I don't want to lose four lives over one" Seeing the disappointed look on the men's faces he said sighing deeply "I know we don't leave any man behind, but if we don't have intel in 12 hours we'll go back to the camp" Eventually, the team reluctantly returned to their positions thinking of how fucked up this situation ended. After two agonizing hours of waiting in absolute silence, Schultz sudden voice startled everyone. " _Sarge! Sarge! I found them I found them! Please copy. Over"_ Those few words broke a huge grin on everyone's faces and some cheered quietly and slapped each other on their backs. Feeling relief washing over him and an enormous weight being lifted from his shoulders, G happily replied _"Copy that corporal, copy that"_ Streets, not standing being quiet other second, said " _care to share with the class corporal?"_ After all the specifications were made, the unit had an extraction plan. Although they were slightly outnumbered, the men didn't worry; they were better trained and equipped, plus, they had a strong motivation: _no man behind._

"Ok gentleman, from what Ralf explained and Streets draw from that, we have a simple compound with one entrance, and apparently four rooms with similar size. There are five men outside, three on the surroundings and two at the door, obviously we have pictures and not live feed, so we don´t know exactly how many they are, but that we'll reconfirm on the recon. The plan will be this" intercalating his gaze between his men and the drawing, he continued "When the three men that do surrounding checks are separated from each other and the guards at the entrance, Derek, Tiny and Wolfe will subdued them from behind. Then, Streets and I will dress up like them and with the rest as backup we'll lure them far from the entrance and take them out. Finally, we'll do the typical clear room by room, one alpha with two (Streets and I) and beta (the rest of you). Everyone got it?" After he saw them nod in understanding he stood up and said "Let's go bring our guys back, then"

Sighing deeply to prepare himself for what was about to come, Jay took a deep breath and asked, looking at his friends left eye –the only one that wasn't shut down by the swelling- "Your ready buddy?" Nodding slowly but anxiously Alan replied "Yes, let's do this". At the increasing beat of his heart, Jay made sniper breaths to calm his pulse down; once it was settled, he stated vigorously "Here we go". _There's no backing now Halstead._ As he was about to do it, Erin's face suddenly appeared vividly in front of his eyes. That was it took, now nothing would stop him.

Taking impulse, Jay lifted himself, along with the wooden chair, and threw his body backwards with all his might, landing roughly on his back and side, it hurt like hell, but the sound of a loud CRACK followed by the chair smashing onto the floor made both Jay and Alan smile triumphantly. However, there wasn't any time for celebrations. In a matter of seconds, Jay unleashed the now loose ropes from his hands and feet and when he was done, he got up quickly; butcher's knife in one hand and shock stick in the other. Jay positioned strategically behind the door and waited for the inevitable. The two guards cautiously made their way in, ready for a fight. As soon as both of them were inside, Jay kicked the door shut. At the loud noise, the guards turned around but failed to see the soldier's swiftly movements. In a split of a second Jay assessed the situation and acted. He stuck the gun out from the man closest to him, grabbed his hand throwing him to the floor as he electrocuted him. _One down two to go._ Jay thought as he watched the other guard movements. The small man in front of him wasn't showing any fear and was actually _smiling_ at him, daring for him to attack. _If that's what he wants._ With a fast move, Jay ducked and hit the man's legs, making his opponent fall on his face, breaking his nose. As the afghan tried poorly to get up, Jay kicked his face hard and knocked him unconscious. Trembling from the effort, Jay put his hands on his knees and took several deep breaths before freeing Alan. While they armed themselves with the guns and knives they found, Alan asked "hey man why didn't you use the gun?" Snake looked at him with an isn't-it-obvious face and noticing he wasn't joking, replied "we want to go quiet". Throwing his friend one last worried look he thought _if he's asking that he's not in good shape at all._ Once they were ready, the prisoners walked quietly down the hallway and when they reached the door Jay and Alan each one stood behind an absent minded guard. Jay looked at Alan at mouthed _1… 2…_ and at the count of three they passed the ropes over their enemies' heads. Once they were down they dragged them behind the compound and took their guns.

" _Sarge, negative for movement. Over"_ Tiny was their eyes as he was the second sniper. Strange looks crossed on everyone's faces when they heard that. G answered quickly " _What do you mean no movement, Tiny? Over"_ With s hint of uncertain on his voice Tiny explained " _I don't get it, we are at the right compound, but there's nobody there. Repeat, no guards, nothing. Over"_ With a frustrated sight, G said " _Roger that, regroup and let's make another plan"._ After half an hour discussing and asking for permission on base, they were going to make a silent approach with the stunt grenades.Inching forward with their guns raised and the M84's ready they surrounded the small house. Over the comms, the faint voice of Ryan was heard " _Two bodies at the back of the compound"_ A wave of very confused roger that answered. Throwing the M84's inside they cleared room by room. Tiny, the doc and Ryan cleared the last room to the right. "got movement over here!" the unit moved to the last room –where the shout of Tiny was heard- and saw one man lying prone on the floor, with his hands and feet firmly tied, looking at them with fear in his eyes.

The men of Alfa-Delta stood there in confusion until Streets asked to no one in particular "What the _fuck_ happened here?!"

Back in Chicago, a very nervous Erin ate her fingernails as she watched the snowflakes fall. A few feet away from her, the rest of the unit stared at her with deep concern. "What's up with Erin?" Ruzek asked curiously. Voight's raspy voice left no room for argument "I'll go talk to her" and patting Al's arm he asked him if he could ask Erin to come to his office. "What's going through that head of yours kid?" Crossing her arms and sighing tiredly she said, at first a bit insecure "I… um I had a nightmare the other day" when she saw the fatherly look on the man in front of her she continued with renewed strength "It was so vivid, Hank. I… I heard Jay screaming trying to get out of a dark room" Her voice breaking a bit more every word left her mouth "You should have seen it Hank, it was so real; all the wounds and the bruises" With fear in her eyes she looked intensely at him "What if something happened?" With his arms crossed –a typical clue of worry for Voight- he bit his lower lip and finally said with a reassuring smile "I don't know Erin. But I'll call the General, see if he knows something, okay?" Still a little upset, Erin nod and left the office, knowing something was not right. She could feel it in her skin.

 **Tan taaaan! What will happen?! Will the team find jay and Alan…. Where is the rest of the bad guys?...**

 **Please REVIEW! Thaks guys**


	11. author's note

**hey guys! I know you probably hate by now, cause I haven't posted in like forever, and i'm soo sorry about that!**

 **the thing is that i'm with a looot of study and when I posted chapter ten only one person rewied... so that was kinda of a bumer and after that I wasn't really motivated to write the story because it's really hard to write one in another language, to recieve one comment?**

 **just tell me guys if it's worth to keep writing the story**

 **again, so sorry and I hope you guys understand!**

 **love and kisses**

 **prohibidofumar**


	12. MIA

"MIA"

In the middle of a furious blizzard that danced through the blinding white walls and ground that decorated the tall and deep mountain of Koh-e Baba, two men, tripping and swaying from both exertion and the mocking weather, fought ferociously against the merciless wind that threatened to knock them backwards; their arms up in a futile attempt to protect their faces from the sharp flurry that cut through their flesh and lips. After three hours of running, well, more like crawling at this point, a pair of shaky legs gave in to exhaustion and simply let the powerful wind to guide them towards the dense snow underneath them. Wasting no time, snow soon started to cover up the sprawled legs and arms of the man with the damaged face, partly buried in the snow.

The other man, in the meantime, was barely aware of what was happening around him. The blizzard surrounding him stunned every little sense left in him; the buzzing wind in his ears left him temporary deaf and his poor attempts to cover his eyes from the thick curtain of snow, wind, dirt and sand that attacked his body left him unable to see.

Suddenly, the blizzard, as if out of pity, decreased. The still standing man, although barely, stopped for a moment to hopelessly wonder about his and his friend's immediate future. As if on cue, he squinted his eyes searching for the dark figure. Dread started filling his body when seconds and then minutes passed and he couldn't even see a feet away from him. With a stubbornness born only from warfare experience, the young soldier knelt down and began crawling towards every possible direction he could tell as he scream on top of his lungs his friend's name:

"ALAN!" he closed his eyes and sharpened his ears.

Nothing.

He tried again and again with no avail and suddenly possessed by rage and fatigue, the soldier screamed with an infuriated and broken voice, and punched the snow. The bitter taste in his mouth disappeared when he felt something soft under his fists. He touched the place he had just hit and removed the surface snow.

A shoe.

A _freaking_ shoe.

Giving a relieved, dried laugh that ended quickly when he felt the copper taste on his torn lips, Jay followed the body and dug out his friends face and arms and rapidly searched for a pulse in the cold neck. A few seconds passed and felt nothing. Frowning in concern he felt for it again, this time in the wrist and waited. It was there; slow –very slow- but a pulse after all.

Releasing the air he didn't know he had been holding, Jay brought the top of his teammate's hypothermic body closer to him and wrapped his arms tightly around Alan with the hope of warm him up.

After a while of just sitting there, with the wind furiously cutting through the short strands of hair; lifting them, crushing them down, taking them from left to right, from right to left, Staff Sergeant Halstead raised his gaze and set his light eyes in front of him into nothingness.

Slowly, a sense of loss, desperation, anger and tired defeat started to creep into his mind and turned into an oppressing weight on his chest. The young soldier's eyes kept looking forward but the weight of the feelings finally overwhelmed him.

It was just _too much._

So, in the middle of a storm, a man with a dying friend in his arms started rocking back and forth as tears of incompetence and exertion fell on his face, only to be blown away seconds later by the freezing wind.

 _Three hours earlier_

The two now free prisoners stood behind the sandy walls of the compound, searching for hidden weapons, clothes, food and electronics (the latter being a failure) in their former captor's bodies, as their eyes darted anxiously into every direction for danger. After all, they only took four out of ten men.

Once they were dressed in warm clothes and loaded with some food and weapons, Jay sat at the edge of the wall, lifted his fist signaling to the man behind him to stop and carefully poked his eyes over the edge. He waited for five minutes and, seeing that in was safe to keep going, he uncurled his fist and with stretched fingers he shook his hand backward and forwards in rapid succession. Crouched, the soldiers advanced, hastily moving away from the hell hole where they have been captive, only to be followed shortly behind by six furious killers.

If they only had known that only half an hour later, five hopeful soldiers would arrive at the small house to save them.

"What the _fuck_ happened here?!" Streets asked, lifting his arms in shock.

Grabbing a strand of furious ginger hair in a tired gesture, G sighed deeply and said "I think they escaped and took the four men we're seeing"

"Do you think there were other people in here?" Tiny asked with concern at their Commander

"And if so, where are they?" Wolfe said what everybody was thinking.

With determination, Tiny set his eyes on the ginger haired man and asked "Permission to find out, Sir" nodding at the scared, bounded man on the floor.

G thought for a moment, pondering his options and finally replied, tilting his head "Permission granted" He turned around to leave the room in a swift movement as he said "Wolfe, stay here to keep guard, everyone else follow me"

As the soldiers on the outside tracked their missing friend's steps, Tiny had grabbed a lonely chair, set it straight in the middle of the room and grabbed with force the short afghan man by the arms and tied him to it. With premeditated and practiced movements, he looked closely at the man's eyes and slowly smiled; patting his prisoner's cheek he slowly stood up, stretching his arms and neck as he dragged another chair and sat in front of the scared man.

After a few minutes of sitting with his elbows resting on his legs and his hands holding his chin, Tiny took out the gag in an almost bored expression and said calmly as he took out his phone "You know, they always talk in the end" He glanced at the man "I don't know if you understand me, but you're in deep shit mister, you're under arrest for kidnapping and torturing American soldiers; as soon as we get to base we're handling you to local authorities, and believe me, they are _not_ as nice as I am". The tied man gulped nervously and stared at the ground. Lifting an eyebrow, Tiny said "So you _do_ understand me. Good, now you are going to say to me everything I want"

The afghan snorted and said with a thick accent "not talking mister"

A loud bang resonated through the walls as Tiny stood, infuriated, kicking his chair in the process. He grabbed the man's hair and yelled at his face "YOU THINK 'THEY' ARE GOING TO GET YOU OUT OF PRISON? They don't care about you, you're shit to them, they. LEFT. YOU. HERE. You're a burden; they saw the opportunity to get rid of you and took it. If it weren't for us, you'd still be tied and gagged on the floor"

The soldier took advantage of the vulnerability of his prisoner and look him straight in the eye for a minute and then he let go of the hair in a hasty movement.

After a few minutes, the afghan sighed, defeated and said in a horrible English "What do you want know mister?" Tiny showed a picture of the missing soldiers and showed it to him "What happened to them"

"G! Sir!" Tiny screamed as he ran outside full speed.

The three men turned around, expectantly. Streets, wasting no time asked him what had happened and Tiny started speaking.

"Jay and Alan somehow got free and took this guy and his partner out and the two men behind the compound. Apparently they took off with their clothes and guns. About ten minutes ago, when three of them started doing the perimeter check and discovered the bodies, they went after them in a humvee. There a _six_ chasing them, sir, we need to find them" He ended in an almost pleading tone.

G nodded and started talking with the general back in base asking for an extraction chopper when he explained the situation. After a minute or two, his face contorted in concern and frowned. The unit heard some "Buts"… "Sir"… and finally a tired and slightly angry "Yes sir".

The commander angrily ripped the comm off his ear and turned around to face his unit. Sighing, he said "There's a storm coming, they can't send in the chopper so they've ordered us to get back to base and as soon as the storm ends we'll have two choppers standing by to take off" He saw the incredulous and angry looks on the soldiers faces, so he said in an attempt to appease them "It's the best deal I got, I'm sorry guys, but the general is right. If we go in right now, the chopper could go down and not only two men would be lost, but more than eight. I'm sorry"

"SHIT!" Tiny screamed as he kicked a small rock at his feet.

Heartbreaking mutterings and cursing about how fucked up this situation had ended; the unit walked along the prisoner with sunken shoulders towards Bamyan and far away from their real goal, their brothers.

With a last look, Streets whispered to no one in particular, although everybody heard him.

"We're not supposed to leave anybody behind"

The general sat in his desk, covering his face with one hand as he thought about the missing men.

His desk phone had been ringing for the past ten minutes and he didn't want to answer. He knew the number and it was nothing good, he hated to deliver this news.

Finally, the General sighed deeply and lifted the phone with the other hand.

"General Coleman here"

A raspy, angry voice answered on the other side _"General, this is Sergeant Voight of Halstead's unit. We're concern, because he hasn't called for the past two days and you promised to call me if anything happens"._

"Sergeant, yes. I apologize; we have a bit of a situation here"

" _I understand sir, you must be busy. Just tell me if he's alright and I won't bother you again"_ hearing the mild hesitation, Voight asked, suddenly sitting straight _"What happened?"_

Seeing that there was no way his lie would go unnoticed, the general answered bitterly but professional "Staff Sergeant Halstead left with Unit Alfa-Delta-6-0-4 on December 19th at 0800 to do a recon mission on an area we suspected they were holding the package" He stopped for a brief seconds and continued "Around 2100, Staff Sergeant Halstead disappeared among a man that was accompanying the unit; now we know that he was leaking information to the enemy. As of today, the unit found the compound where they had been holding them prisoners, but Halstead and Rodriguez had escaped"

A confused Hank Voight asked on the other side of the line _"but that's good, isn't it?"_

"It would be, yes. But a strong storm is closing up on them and we had to delay the rescue because of the danger of it"

A long, uncomfortable pause took place followed by a question filled with bitterness _"How long and how are their chances?"_

Deciding that it was best to keep it honest, the General sighed "About four hours until the storms subsides and then they have to find them. I'm going to be honest with you Sergeant" he started tapping nervously his fingers on the table and continued "It's not looking good. I'm sorry".

At the other side of the world, suddenly tired, Hank Voight closed his eyes and inhaled profoundly to calm himself "I'm going to speak to Halstead's brother; a familiar face should be better. Call me as soon as you know anything. Evening" He left no room for questioning as he ended the call, smashing the phone down in anger.

Folding his arms, Voight, biting his tongue, looked at the office or more specifically at Erin. She was eating her nails gazing constantly at the computer and back to the window. Deciding that he couldn't wait any longer, he stood up and called Olinsky.

"What's up?" He asked good mannered, closing the door behind him. But as soon as he saw the grave look on his friend's face he asked earnestly "What happened?"

"It's Jay" Sighing, he told the entire story and when he had finished, both men sat in silent grief.

"I want you to tell the guys, but first bring Mouse and Erin in here. Don't say _anything_ until they close this door, okay?"

Nodding sharply, Alvin slowly stood and headed to the door as he whispered "They better find them, the unit can't lose him" Hank just tilted his head in agreement.

Olinsky put his best bravado face and went over to Erin and Mouse's desks. "Hey guys, Voight needs you in his office"

Both friends looked at each other with dread. Trembling slightly they walked the few steps and crossed the feared door.

"What's all that about?" Atwater asked absentmindedly as he ate a donut.

Olinsky said "guys" so earnestly that everyone turned their attention to him and stopped what they were doing. He nodded them to follow him and took them to the far corner of the room.

Once everyone was settled he said in a low voice looking at everyone in the eye "Jay's missing"

 **Okay guys soooo there you have iiiit! Albeit short, I hope it was worth it.**

 **Tell me what do you think it's gonna happen to our lovely soldiers who are MIA in the middle of nowhere.**

 **Remember that the bombs are still there, tan taaan.**

 **Poor Erin and Mouse**

 **I don't know about you guys, but I LOVE streets hahahah I imagine him like a New Yorker semi Italian, crazy dude.**

 **Leave me your thoughts!**

 **Till next time, kisses**


	13. Oh shit

" **Oh shit"**

 **Hi guyyyyyyyysss! Finally I'm on vacation! So I'll be able to write MUCH more.**

 **Here you have a new chapter, please when you finish reading REVIEW!;)**

 **Important ps: in the previous chapter I wrote a minor detail wrong: when the general is talking to Voight on the phone he says that Jay was taken at 1200, but it was at 2100. I already fixed it**

 **Enjoy!**

"Erin!" a worried Voight yelled as the woman ran out of the office.

He sat back again and folded his arms, wearing a small frown on his face. He looked at the young man sitting in front of him and screwed his face in concern.

After Voight had delivered –as delicately as possible- the news of Jay's situation, the small office had turned worriedly silent; Mouse's only reaction was to look at the floor not even blinking and Erin, after a few seconds of trying to mutter some words other than "what?" that ended, inevitably, in small sobs, ran out of the room, horrified and angry; her face low and a hand covering her mouth.

Voight saw the unit's blank and gaunted expressions screaming at him for a logical explanation for all of this craziness through the open door. Biting his lip he set his eyes on Al's equally worried ones and nodded the unspoken consent for his friend to follow Erin. As soon as he saw Al leaving the room in haste he stood from his chair, closed the door and sat next to the former ranger.

Gingerly, as if to not disturb the young man, he put an amicable hand on his shoulder and said in a raspy whisper "Mouse, look at me"

The once proud soldier kept looking intently at the floor in shock, and when his breathing started to get labored and his hands to slightly tremble, he hardened his grip on the shoulder, and repeated, now loudly "Mouse! Look at me!"

Mouse started to shake his head with violence from one side to another and to mumble incoherently, oblivious to reality around him, as he was too caught up in memories that ruthlessly assaulted him "A bomb?. Jay you're bleeding. What happened? I'm bleeding, you're bleeding, why are we bleeding? God there's blood everywhere. So much red. I can't see. I can't see. I can't see. My gun, I need my gun. Why can't I see! There's too much-"

 _Why am I looking at the sky?_

 _Hearing nothing but a searing, irritating beeping, Mouse turned his head slowly to the right. He frowned. Confused and dazed, he didn't understand why the humvee he had been in just seconds ago was now the other way around, with the roof leaning heavily against the ground. A lonely wheel -the only one left- kept spinning annoyingly slow._

 _Absentmindedly, he raised his left hand and looked at it. One of his fingers was strangely crooked. Mercifully not feeling –yet- any pain, as his body was still too shocked to process the situation, he gazed with distant and unfocused eyes at a man crawling out of the vehicle._

 _He was so tired. He thought It'd be nice to just sleep for a moment, so he did._

 _But hands and a voice kept interrupting his sleep. Annoyed, he opened his eyes. What? What's so important that you have to wake me up? He yelled, or at least, he thought he had. The man hovering above him kept saying something, but the beeping surpassed the voice significantly. I can't hear you! The other man was oblivious at his screams apparently. Slowly, the strident beeping started to fade along with the shock. He whimpered in pain._

 _He managed to slur "Wha'?"_

 _The voice answered him in haste "Shhh don't worry, you're ok, just stay here and don't fall asleep ok?"_

 _Why not? He thought. At the look on the worried eyes above him he guessed it was important, so he tiredly agreed._

 _After the man left him alone, another wave of pain cursed through his body. He screwed his eyes shut and screamed until his throat got scraped inside out._

 _God! Why does it hurt so much! What the fuck happened! The young soldier raised his head just enough to see his body. Dizzy, he dropped it. With his good hand he touched his stomach and brought it to his face. At this point, the concussed man could only see shapes and colors, so when he saw his hand he saw a red hand. Confused as to why this change of color, he licked his finger. Copper. Oh, blood. Wait, blood? He thought, startled. Why is there blood? Why am I bleeding?_

Alarmed, Voight swiftly crouched in front of the man in distress and firmly gripping his arms, he yelled "Mouse! Snap out of it! You're safe"

 _The man returned and moved his aching body away from the wrecked humvee. God it hurts. He moaned slightly as he was dragged, too exhausted to even speak. But all of the sudden, the movement stopped and his head was put on something soft. Well that sure feels nice._

 _Painfully coming to his senses, Mouse looked at his friend in concentration and asked "Wh't happn' ay?"_

 _His friend was crying, why was he crying?_

" _A bomb, a fucking bomb"_

 _Oh, that's why._

Searching for recognition on the lost eyes he kept repeating persistently "Mouse you're in Chicago in a police station, you're safe, you hear me? You're safe!"

Slowly, the mumbling stopped and tired eyes looked back at Voight; a quiet "m' sorry" was whispered before his head fell to the side, unconscious. Suddenly realizing Mouse was dead weight on his arms, he grabbed him firmly and called for Antonio.

Once he was settled on the floor of the office, away from prying eyes and with a jacket holding his head, Voight allowed himself to stretch his neck and looked at Antonio, barely hiding his tiredness.

"What a day, huh?" Antonio said, dejectedly looking at Mouse.

"That's one way to put it"

Both men turned around swiftly and Voight asked in concern to the man that had just arrived "Al, how's Erin?"

With thoughtful eyes, he ran a hand through his lips "Well, she's pissed" he glanced briefly at Voight and said in a lower voice "She's a mess. You should take her home, Hank"

"And I will but I have to speak to Halstead's brother" he sighed

"No, I'll talk to him" Mouse stood slowly, slightly wavering and giving a thankful smile to Antonio, who had run to him and was holding him by the arm.

"You sure?" Voight asked, grabbing his coat.

In response, he nodded and stood up straight "I'm his brother's best friend; he needs to hear it from me"

Voight pondered for a few seconds and said "Alright, send him my regards"

"I will" Voight nodded sharply and was turning around to leave, when Mouse called him "And Voight" the said man stopped and turned around expectantly.

Mouse gave him a meaningful look "Thanks"

"Anytime"

Silently, Voight walked slowly towards Erin and sat next to her. She was sitting in one of the benches of the locker room, covering her face with her hands.

He leaned closer and softly said "how are you holding up sweetie?"

A muffled response was heard through her hands "This wasn't supposed to happen" She lowered her hands and asked, miserably looking at the ground with puffy eyes "What if the dream I had was true?"

Wordless, Voight put his arm around her in comfort "Regrettably Erin, there's no way to know. We can only wait and hope for the best. The kid is strong, if anyone can make it it's him" he gently stroked her shoulder and said "Come on, I'll take you to my place"

She nodded with teary eyes and was about to stand up when she felt suddenly overwhelmed. Devastated, she hid her wet face on the crook of his neck and cried inconsolably. After a while of Voight rocking her slightly back and forth, she mumbled between heartbreaking sobs and hiccups "He can't die Hank. I can't lose him"

Voight sighed in sorrow and thought "you better be alive kid or I will personally kick your ass"

 _Camp Phoenix, present time_

"General!" A young private barged into the tent of his superior. Imposing as ever, the alluded man asked "What?" as he signed some papers. He looked at his watch and sighed. 21st, 0326 am; one hour until the storm subsides.

The dark haired man stuttered slightly, but cleared his throat and said "Sir, Unit Alfa-Delta-6-0-4 just arrived, along with a prisoner, Sir."

The pencil stood, frozen, in mid air. General Coleman lowered it slowly and instructed "Take them to command post and the prisoner to the detention center"

"Sir yes Sir" the private saluted and turned his heels around, leaving the room in a respectful hurry.

Inhaling deeply, Brigadier General Mark Coleman shook his head as if to erase all thoughts of worry. Be professional and go do your job, he berated himself. He went to the small private bathroom and splashed some water on his face; he looked at his reflection and frowned. In all his years as a General, only four hostage or MIA situation had happened under his command, and all four of them had kept him awake for days and working relentlessly, exhausting himself. How could he not? Those where _his_ men, _his_ responsibility. Thousands of hopeful soldiers, that dreamed about home and grass and peace walked in front of his tent every day, talking and yoking around with friends, and some of them never returned to those dreams.

But he could change the fate of some and he'd be damned if he didn't try.

He dried his face quickly and headed to command post. He had two men to find.

"Commander McLaughlin" the General called the ginger haired man from behind as he entered the command center "Gentlemen"

"Sir" the unit answered respectfully.

General Coleman sighed, although barely, at the sight in front of him as he signaled to them to sit down. The remaining men of the unit had pronounced dark bags under their tired eyes; they were covered in filthy dust that had carved into their skins, now darker and chapped because of the sun and the sticky sand.

Tired, they sat heavily on their respective chairs.

"I'm not going to start with pleasantries because I know you don't want them and there's no time to waste, so I'm gonna go straight to the point" He stood up and went to one of the big screens on one of the walls "Schultz if you may" the young specialist nodded sharply and marks appeared on the map.

The general pointed at one of the big red circles "This is the area of the storm, the circle will move in conjunction with the storm" he moved his finger to a smaller, green circle "Now this is the possible area where our men might be" A deep silence, accompanied with astounded looks, followed.

"But sir, it'll be impossible to cover _that_ much area! Even in a chopper!" Streets yelled, angry, as he rubbed his face.

Apacifyingly, G intervened "Can't we reduce the area somehow, Sir?"

"Unfortunately, no we can't" he looked apologetically at the unit, but especially at Corporal Tony "Streets" Wilson. He was a soldier well known to everyone. Usually one of light temper and easy laugh, the half Italian had the bad habit of getting instantly attached and befriends of whoever was on his unit. Although his demeanor and childish behavior were usually looked with disinterested and sometimes disappointed eyes by his superiors, he had to admit to himself that the man possessed a strength that few of them had; in moments of loss and despair, he was the first one to cheer up the atmosphere, either with a joke or with a distracting game or conversation. Hell, even when he lost one of his men, the corporal sat in front of him in the dining room in silence, gave him a deck of cards and started playing poker; his favorite game. How he got to know that, was -and still is- a mystery for him.

So he fell for the man, he really did. He sighed and continued speaking "There'll be two choppers at your disposal, each will have a medical team coming along" he looked at Wolfe "Wolfe here will be piloting one of the choppers, he is still your driver, after all this mission isn't over"

The General sat no his chair, rested his elbows on the table and continued "you have fifty minutes until the departure of the choppers, so go rest, wash up, eat or something. Dismissed"

The unit stood up slowly and saluted; they all anxiously left to get ready and some rest, except for G. He sat again and sighed "You wanted to speak to me, sir?

"Yes Commander, how's everyone doing?" the General asked, genuinely concerned

G leaned against the backrest of the chair and after a moment of thought, he spoke earnestly "Well, everyone hated to turn back to base, but it was the right call, Sir. As you know Sergeant Walker did tours with Halstead, so it's harder for him; but for the others I wouldn't know, Sir, although Corporal Wilson seems to be having a hard time"

The General rubbed his eyes "Yes well, Corporal Wilson befriends instantly so every case is difficult for him" he gazed at the map and said, more to himself than to the soldier sitting next to him "I really hope this is a rescue and not a recovery" The General looked back at the Commander and said, worried "If Sergeant Rodriguez dies, we won't be able to stop the attack on one of our camps"

G sighed profoundly and stretched his neck, exhausted "I know Sir, we all do"

 _Three hours before_

The man breathed hard in anxiousness and opened the door "Sir"

The tan man looked at him expectantly; but when a few seconds passed and nothing was said, he pressed, impatient "Yes, Mikal?"

A nervous drop of sweat ran down his face. He mumbled "The prisoners escaped, sir"

The man inhaled deeply to calm himself. I swear one day I'm going to slit his throat, he though enraged. "Any casualties?" he asked

"Four sir, well three, but one is incapacitated"

Livid, the boss stood up and yelled "Well then send three of them to find them!" he grabbed some papers and pointed a finger at Mikal "You'll come with me and my guard, the plan isn't changing jut because of some stupid soldiers!"

"Yes Sir, I'll tell them right away Sir" The words came out stumbling with each other

"Useless piece of shit" Assad Abdullah murmured under his breath once his subordinate was out of the room.

He sighed angry and called his contact as he hopped on the car "Faqir, the prisoners escaped. No, no, then plan is still in motion. Yes, in three days just as we planned. Alright, peace be with you brother"

 _Present time (0440 am)_

Covered in a thin layer of sand, dust and snow, the body of a man started to slowly twitch. Suddenly, consciousness filled his mind and, momentarily forgetting where he was, he jumped back frightened, releasing his hold on the other man he had been holding.

Confused he mumbled, his teeth chattering "Wha'?" he roamed through the gloomy surroundings "Where?" he looked back at the man on the ground "Who?" Worried, he gazed at his own aching body, and he remembered.

Shit, he though. Shit, shit, shit.

He ran over to the fallen soldier and touched his face "Alan?" His face was so white. "Don't die, please don't die" Desperately, he checked for a pulse. A beat, a goddamn beat. He exhaled deeply and nodded, gratefully. But he had to wake him up.

"Alan. Alan, wake up"

Slowly, a pair of sandy eyes opened, although barely.

Jay allowed himself to crack a small smile and put his face on the man's line of vision. "You scared me there for a second soldier"

A dried laugh came out of the torn lips of the lying man. "S'rry"

Dejectedly, Jay answered "Don't apologize, just don't fall asleep alright?" This gave him a strange sense of déjà vu. He frowned at the memory and a shiver ran through his spine. _Don't think about that now, Halstead,_ he berated himself. Shrugging the memory away, he peered at Alan and put his head on his lap. Another déjà vu.

"Stop it!" he yelled at himself.

Exhausted and cold, he gave an unsure sigh and absentmindedly rubbed his chest. When he felt a protuberance near his neck, he fearfully opened the coat he had stolen.

When he saw it, he felt suddenly moved, and grabbing the small plain object he raised it to get a better look at it. Feeling reassured by the touch and all of the sudden determinate, he clenched with his hand Mouse's dog tags and looked intently at Alan.

"Alan, I need to know about the bombs" He called again when the man didn't move "Alan, the bombs, I need to know"

Licking his cracked lips, the young Sergeant spoke hoarsely "there's five of 'em"

 _Five?_ Jay thought alarmed; his heart beating faster. "Where and when Alan?"

Seeing that the man had started to drift back to sleep, Jay yelled "Sergeant Rodriguez! This is your Staff Sergeant! I'm ordering you to tell me where and when are going to be the bombs!?"

The poor, injured man, after all those years listening and obeying to orders, opened his eyes at the commanding voice and answered automatically, although slurred "Camp Phoenix, the 25th sir, on Chr'tm's, sir"

 _Shit._ Jay thought as his owns eyes gradually closed in exhaustation.

 **So guys! Honestly, did you like it? What did you think about poor Mouse's flashback?**

 **Please –PLEASE- tell me your thoughts. Is Jay going to stop the bombs? Are they going to survive?**

 **Till next time**


	14. It's not always a win-win situation

**Chapter 13**

" **It's not always a win-win situation"**

 **Hey guys! Here I am with a new –very long- chapter.**

 **Please, review when you finish reading! I can't believe that I've got more that 80 followers and like 50 favorites and only THREE people reviewed. It's painful.**

 **Enjoy!**

In a fidgeting stance, Mouse stood outside the overwhelming building biting the nails of his left hand. The young man started to move his lips and speaking to himself in silence, moving his hands and pacing in front of the doors with sunken shoulders.

Abruptly, a pair of hands landed on his shoulders, forcing the anxious man to stop moving.

"Mouse" –Antonio said worried, but firmly- "You've been here for about fifteen minutes, you want me to come inside with you?"

At the conflicted look on Mouse's eyes, Antonio realized suddenly the cause of the waiting and reassured quickly "Look, Mouse I'm sorry. I know you can do this alone, you don't need me" He patted his arm and with a small, shy smile that might have very well been confused by a grimace, continued "You'll do fine! I'll be waiting in the car, take your time with Will"

Mouse nodded as he inhaled profoundly to calm his nerves and to build some self confidence. He stretched his neck and sighed once more. He nodded again.

"Okay"-He whispered as he turned around and faced the automatic doors- "Okay"

He ran a hand through his hair and entered the building in haste, almost running, too afraid that his body would suddenly disconnect from his mind and flee from the hospital.

Once inside, the poor man, even more dejected than before, contemplated his surroundings with stray, not knowing who to turn to or where to go.

A nurse caught the lost look on the man's worried face and quickly approached him.

"Sir?"

Mouse set his eyes on the kind, smiling face of the nurse, but said nothing, at which she insisted "Sir, are you alright? Do you need any help?"

Mouse's upset mind processed the word 'help' and he replied energetically, with a tone of urgency, grabbing the nurse's hands "Help. Yes. I need to speak to Doctor Will Halstead _immediately_ , tell him Mouse his looking for him"

The nurse agreed, with a slightly reluctant voice and turned around with a frown as she nudged with her head "Follow me young man"

The lady spoke on the phone for a few minutes, peering at Mouse in time to time. She hang up and looking at him with curious eyes, said "Doctor Halstead is on his break, he told me to take you to a private room"

Mouse gave her a small smile and thanked her in his usual jumpy and swift demeanor.

The five minutes that passed –painfully slow, I might add-, didn't prepare Mouse for the conversation that awaited him; not that any time in the world would, he though with dismay.

* * *

Will Halstead's day had been quiet without any mayors' mishaps, and he thanked that greatly as he sipped his coffee with a sigh of contempt. But his relaxed figure slowly changed into a small frown of concern as he thought about the nagging sensation he had been feeling for the past couple of days. It started the 19th at 11am. Because he had had a night shift the previous day, he had decided to sleep in the hospital, and he had woken up covered in a thin layer of nightmare induced sweat; but in spite of all his efforts to remember what the nightmare had been about, he had merely graced the tail end of it: a mixture of screams, deformed figures and a dark, grimly surrounding.

And with that thought was how Will Halstead answered his phone.

"Doctor Halstead" he answered as he made circles in the darkened water with the white straw.

" _Doctor, there is a young man here saying he has to speak to you urgently?"_ The voice ended the sentence with hesitation.

Absentmindedly, Will sipped his fuming coffee and asked for the name as he stifled a yawn.

" _He said, um… Mouse? "_

At the mention of the name, a violent shiver run through the brother's spine, making his skin crawl and his muscles to stifle. He saw himself moving in slow motion, leaving the coffee back into the table with long, cold fingers and standing up with sparkling eyes. He put a hand against the white wall for support when he realized that as much as Mouse was -probably- Jay's best friend, he would never extend that title to him and visit him just because.

The insisting voice of the nurse asking him for guidance brought him back to the present, the noises and the smells of antiseptic and food. Quickly, as he ran with his heart thumping hard against his chest, he instructed the nurse to take Mouse to one of the private waiting rooms on the third floor.

When he arrived to waiting room 305, he gripped the handle with such force that his knuckles turned white, and rather than making it spin, he looked at it with lost eyes. But never being a man of avoiding problems, he inhaled quickly, but deeply, and entered the room with cautious and measured steps. And when he lifted his eyes and set them on the dejected and dull ones of his brother's friends he just _knew_.

Overwhelmed with the terrible sensation of knowing that in seconds he would know that his brother was either dead or hurt, he shut his eyes close as if to block reality, and let his body slide down the wall towards the ground.

With his throat constricted in dread, he covered his face with his hands and asked in a low voice:

"What happened to Jay?"

Gingerly, Mouse sat on the ground in front of the brother. He leaned forward, and with his elbows resting on his knees and his hands folded in front of him, he slowly started to relate what had transpired during the last three days. When he finished his tale, Will looked at him with hopeful, but fearful eyes, as a young patient would ask his doctor about his condition, and stated with a tentative, small smile: "So he's alive"

Mouse looked at him with tormented eyes and said after a moment of thought "As far as we know, yes".

Will leaned his head against the cold wall and laying a hand in Mouse's shoulder he nodded gratefully as he mumbled "Thank you God"; he sighed with a hint of sadness and whispered to himself "Thank you".

* * *

 _Camp Phoenix. Time: 0430 am_

" _Alright soldiers" -_ A deep, sharp voice cracked through the headphones- _"This is your General Coleman speaking to you. In four minutes from now, two medical evac hawks will be on air. Alfa team, confirm"_

Inside the dark metallic cabin, four men checked their weapons with sheer determination.

"Copy from Alfa team leader" G said, buckling himself to the chair.

"Copy from Second in command" Wolfe said from the pilot cabin as he checked the screens.

"Copy from team leader medic" stated the tall, blonde haired Corporal Johnson.

"Copy from Sergeant Milton, aiding medic" An imposing, dark skinned man nodded earnestly to the invisible person in the other line.

" _Alfa team ready. Bravo team confirm"_

"Copy from Bravo Team leader" Master Corporal Duane "Tiny" Walker anxiously yelled as he threw a gum to his mouth.

"Copy from Second in command" confirmed Streets with a nervous smile.

"Copy from team leader medic" affirmed sharply as ever Corporal Derek Jackson.

"Copy from Corporal Bajwa, ailing medic" A skinny, yet well built Indian-descendant said, nodding respectfully to his team.

"Copy from pilot" stated lastly Sergeant Andrews.

The imposing voice of the General was heard once more _"Alfa team and Bravo team all set. Start engines on my mark: 3… 2… 1…"_

As the helixes screeched against the cold night and spun faster with every growing second, both teams prepared themselves, every man doing their own private ritual for the beginning of a mission.

The ghost of a prayer made its way through the thunderous metallic sound of the chopper elevating from the ground. The lips of Streets moved rapidly, but quietly against the wooden rosary, and with a final 'amen' he kissed the cross and opened his eyes. He looked at his friend, Eli Bajwa, who was also finishing his personal prayers, as he held his Mala. After a few minutes in the air, Tiny broke the concern-induced silence and yelled so he could be heard against the deafening sound of the helixes:

"Bravo team! We are going to cover the south area of the mountain of Koh-e-Baba and Alfa team will do the north area" – And continued more energetically when tired faces looked back at him - "Now, I _know_ it's a lot area to cover, so focus and keep your eyes open!"

" _Tiny's right soldiers!_ " the authoritative voice of G roamed through the headphones _"We'll get to our destinations in twenty five minutes, but dawn will be in at least fifty minutes, so have your reflectors ready! Cause we ain't gonna see a damn thing without 'em!"_

The flames of light hit the darkened snowed ground of the mountain. Minute after minute, the circles of brightness went to any and every place possible, in a chaotic order that made sense only to the desperate eyes of the tired soldiers that handled the powerful spotlights.

" _Anything?!"_ the leaders of each team yelled through the headphones in such calmness that it could only be a well practiced mask for the sake of their subordinates.

Sadly, the only response was a negative.

The search in the dark kept going until the sun, slowly and in all its magnificence, emerged from the east, along with the unforgiving heat. Minutes passed and parts of the snow started to melt under the bright, unclouded sky.

" _Tiny, over"_ G called from another, more private line.

With a sight, the man answered as he searched the missing soldiers through his binoculars "I'm here, over"

An equally tired sigh came from the other side of the call _"Tiny it's already 6 am, we don't have any much fuel left. We can keep this going for no more than ten minutes and then we have to go back. Another search party will replace us. Over"_

"Damn it" Tiny mumbled under his breath "Copy that, over"

Tiny turned his body around and yelled "Bravo team!"

The three men inside the cabin looked at him with a mixture of concern and wonder. "We're running out of fuel! We don't have more than nine minutes from now, so search hard and fast!"

"Shit" Streets said and looked at his friend's equally scared eyes.

In a second, the soldiers quickly went back to the search, desperate for any sign of life among the deathly nature of Koh-e-Baba.

* * *

A steady, yet fast, low beat irrupted in the unconscious mind of Jay Halstead. Slowly, his freezing eyelids opened just barely. He saw the unconscious form of his friend curled in his arms, and when he heard again the strange noise –not yet identified because of the cold induced numbness- he lifted his head with extreme effort.

At first, in all his confusion, he related the noise with the automatic weapons of their captors, but after turning his head with wild, unfocused eyes, and finding no other thing than blinding snow, he remembered how, a few hours ago, he had witnessed with horror and relief how the deviants hunters stepped into fake ground and how the snowed floor gave in, revealing a deep, dark pit that swallowed without mercy the men, along with their last screams for help and the sound of furious bullets being fired from their chambers.

 _Jay gripped the arm of Alan with trembling and uncoordinated fingers in alarm, while his other hand released his hold on the bandana covering his face and grabbed instead his weapon that hung from his shoulder._

 _It had been an hour and a half since they had escaped from their captors and so far two things had happened: the storm had started out of the blue, hitting them full force, slowing them considerably, and they hadn't seen any of their captors following them._

 _Besides the noises of wind, hard breathing, chattering of teeth and heavy steps of boots against the snow, Jay –the most aware at the time- heard absolutely nothing. It was quiet, too quiet, and it had started to annoy him._

 _But suddenly, faint echoes of voices traveled with the wild towards the escaped prisoners. In fear, Jay stopped abruptly and grabbed his friend, making him stop too._

" _What?!" Alan scream cut through the wind, as he turned his body around to face Jay._

" _I heard voices from behind us!" -Jay yelled back to him- "We have to take cover, do you see something?!"_

 _Both men roamed their surroundings with worried eyes._

 _'Nothing, God damn it!' Jay thought in anger. He grabbed the arm of his friend again and said "Alan, we have to keep going! If they catch us we'll just have to fire at them!"_

 _As an answer, Alan just nodded tiredly as he started to walk slowly, with each step his limp getting more painfully pronounced. At least, for the present being, the wind was in their favor._

 _With a deep frown, Jay looked at his friend and old teammate with unease. He was deteriorating quickly and soon he wouldn't be able to walk, in which case, if someone was actually chasing them, Jay wasn't sure if he would be able to protect them both, and it would come to a decision he didn't want to make._

 _They walked for another half an hour when the voices grew louder. Jay turned his head around and saw hazy figures walking towards them. With wide eyes he grabbed Alan's coat and warned him._

" _Alan we're going to deviate to the left and lay there with our guns ready. When they get closer_ if _the spot us_ then _we fire. With this wind along with our physical condition it's gonna be nearly impossible to get a clean hit. Now let's go!"_

 _They ran as fast as possible, with Jay practically dragging Alan, and when they were far enough, Jay dropped himself and Alan to the ground and pointed his gun to the moving group._

 _Jay saw with wide, frightened eyes through the night vision scope how the group of six stopped in front of them, right where they had deviated. He put his cold finger on the trigger and peered at Alan._

" _Shit" he mumbled under his breath. The man wasn't even holding his gun, he was just laying there. 'Worry about that later' Jay thought as he returned his eye to the scope. With great relief he saw how the group kept moving forward; for a few minutes they walked in a steady pace, but then, the man leading the 'expedition' stopped abruptly and turned his body, lifting his palms in front of him as he moved his mouth._

 _With a frown of interest, Jay looked intently at the scene playing in front of him. He saw how, because of the increasing wind, the men following their leader didn't hear nor saw the desperate posture and yells he was giving to them. So they just kept walking._

 _A gasp of surprise and horror left Jay's mouth when he saw how the ground gave in to the weight and the insurgents fell on the dark hole screaming and pleading for help in a cacophony of death, only to be silenced by the storm mere seconds later._

 _Slowly, he released the hold on his gun and sat, dumfounded. He set his eyes onto his friend and mechanically, he fixed his bandana and whispered, more to himself than to his friend:_

" _It could have been us"_

 _He looked again at the snow in front of him._

" _Just a few meters"_

 _He grabbed Mouse's dog tags and lifting his arms, he laughed at the sky._

Shaking the memory away, Jay brought the freezing body of Alan closer and searched for the mysterious, insisting and now stronger metallic noise. When a sudden, powerful gust of wind hit his hair he, as an ultimate act of effort, lifted his burned face with barely open eyes and smiled under the bandana that covered his mouth and nose.

* * *

The seconds in the wristwatches passed painfully quickly for the team leaders supervising the search. With sorrowful faces, both Tiny and G put a heavy hand on the pilot's shoulder to give the order to return to camp Phoenix.

Alfa team's chopper had just turned around when the excited, astounded voice of Streets hit the comms.

It had happened when Tiny said to them the search was over. With dejected faces, the soldiers, one by one, strapped their binoculars to their vests, but Streets ignored the calls from his team leader and with an angry face, he kept looking.

And at the same time the big, strong hand of Tiny gripped his shoulder, he saw a stain on the ground, dark against the colorless snow. With his heart beating faster, he grabbed the wrist of his superior and yelled "I saw something!", and never leaving his spot on the door, he asked for the sniper rifle and with hasty movements, he set his eye on the scope. He, as well as everybody on the cabin, held his breath in anxious anticipation, and when he located the stain he had seen before, a smile broke on his face and laughed: "It's them! We fucking found them!"

Cheers of relief erupted in both of the choppers and in one swift action, the pilot of Bravo team descended and the pilot of Alfa team turned the chopper around with a smile.

Tiny leaned forward and yelled "Soldiers, despite we have found them this isn't over. Bravo team will protect the packages, while the team medics check them"

The voice of G was heard saying similar commands _"… check for danger in the perimeter. I want a diamond formation around package one when he's carried to our chopper. Bravo team will handle package two."_

As soon as the choppers touched the ground, the nine soldiers jumped to the ground, knees slightly bent as they held their rifles up and walked towards the missing soldiers.

When they reached Jay and Alan the men were shocked into silence when the destroyed face of the Staff Sergeant looked back at them, barely conscious, but clearly smiling.

"You're late" Jay slurred out.

"Yeah, sorry about that soldier" Corporal Jackson said amiably as he crouched, along with the other three doctors, in front of him. The rest of the unit, after securing in the perimeter, let themselves to look at their friends: the faces contracted in a mixture of concern and respect as the medics slowly and carefully started to separate Alan from Jay.

Instinctively, instead of releasing his hold, Jay's fingers clutched even deeper than before, too confused yet to comprehend completely what was happening around him.

A gentle hand rested on the side of his face. Calm, dark eyes looked back at him as a voice said in a tender, yet commanding voice "Jay, you're safe now, no one's gonna harm Alan. You can let go of him now; we're going to take care of him" Jay gazed at him in confusion, so Derek repeated "Let go of Alan, Jay. Let go"

Slowly, the wandering, hazy mind of Jay registered the words of the doctor and moved his hands away from his friend with great effort. The medics separated them and stripped them off their wet clothes, replacing them with warm, dry blankets. As soon as each man was laying on the stretcher, the medics of Alfa team surrounded Alan and the ones of Bravo kneeled at each side of Jay.

"How are we lookin' Johnson?" G asked worriedly, looking at battered, bluish body below him, covered with gauze and blood that seeped lazily from the once white cloths.

The medic shook his head and scratched his forehead in frustration; he looked up at the team leader and said as he covered Alan's mouth with an oxygen mask "Not good G" –He looked back at his patient and continued- "Besides the dehydration, probable lack of food, lacerations, burns, head injury, hurt ribs, broken nose and probable corneal abrasion I'm more worried about the hypothermia right now, that mixed with his injuries…"

The medic nodded his head towards Sergeant Milton and they lifted the stretcher. "G he's presenting a critical case of hypothermia, his core temperature is below 82 Fº, less than 27,5 Cº. I'll explain on the chopper. Now let's get him moving" –When Alfa team started to walk quickly, Derek screamed, worried about his patient- "Slow down people!" and murmured to himself with a face of disapproval "Jesus".

Bravo team saw everything unfold and wondered about their own patient, so when Tiny sensed the uneasiness running through his teammates bodies he lifted his palms to calm them and kneeled next to Derek. Looking at Jay with sorrowful eyes, he asked in a low voice, as if to not disturb the barely conscious man: "Talk to me Derek"

The alluded rubbed his left eye with the palm of his hand and answered as he checked Jay's heartbeat while Corporal Bajwa talked in a desperate attempt to keep Jay awake.

"The injuries that have me more worried at the time are these" –he lifted the thermal blanket just enough to see the trunk of Jay's freezing body. He looked back at G and spoke earnestly with a finger pointed at a bandage across the pale chest- "See, _that_ is a 28 cm (11 inches) blade laceration across his chest. I cauterized it the best I could, but he needs a lot of stitches and antibiotics to prevent further infection; luckily it isn't deep." –He looked at his watch and at Jay's wrist with a frown- "His core temperature is currently 32.3 Cº, he's in the limit between moderate and severe hypothermia. His heartbeat is decreasing, he's losing consciousness, the shivering is decreasing too." -He peered at the other doctor and gestured to lift Jay up- "We need to get him to camp _now_ ".

Once they had carefully settled Jay on the cabin and secured the stretcher, Tiny slapped the pilot's arm and said to him "let's go!". The helixes spun fast as the chopper was lifted from the ground with a roar from the engine. Tiny touched the shoulder of the pilot and continued "Andrews! Notify base that package two is secured and that we need a trauma team on standby!" -he turned his head around and called for the aiding medic.

Tiny gave the radio to Eli and said in a quick and commanding tone "Talk to the trauma team! Tell them what they need and the status of the patient!" the medic nodded sharply and pressed the button on the radio.

The team leader sat next to a very concern Streets and asked to Derek to explain Jay's condition.

"I covered him with thermal blankets and set a warmed intravenous fluid to raise his core temperature" The tired, lost eyes of Jay looked back at him "Although his temperature is now at 33 Cº he still can fall to severe hypothermia. On the bright side, the shivering is increasing" He said with a smile.

Streets eyed him confused "Why is that good?"

Derek licked his lips and explained "Because when hypothermia it's beginning, the body reacts with shivering and high heart rate to generate heat, but as the internal temperature continues to decrease, the heart rate decreases to conserve energy and preserve vital organs. That's why it's a good he's shivering" -Derek put a hand on Streets shoulder and said to him- "Tony, I need you to keep him awake. Talk to him about anything, just _keep him awake_. I can't do everything at the same time"

Streets nodded seriously and moved closer to Jay. Gingerly, he grabbed his hand and put himself in Jay's limited line of vision. Smiling, he said to him "Hey Jay!"

Jay's eyelids opened lazily and croaked, his words choppy because of the shivering "hey"

Streets smile grew bigger as he asked him "Wanna now why they call me Streets?"

Jay nodded barely, too tired and hurt to speak.

"Well" –he looked briefly at the rest of his teammates-"as you may know I'm a bomb technician and since I was a kid I've loved all things related to that. So…" –he smiled mischievously and continued- "I started experimenting ya' know? So the thing is that I'm about eight and I'm with my group of friends walking to school on a winter day in Ney York, cold as a bitch. Anyways, we always passed in front if a construction site that for years no one ever worked on, it was totally deserted; so my idiotic friends had the _brilliant_ idea of making a bet with me" Streets saw how a small smile of anticipation was forming on Jay's lips and he laughed good-heartedly at the memory.

" _Eh Tony!" Johnny screamed at the boy in front of him._

" _Yeah?" He answered as he walked faster to get warm._

" _Me and the guys have a bet for you, the looser gets to do all the homework for the others for two whole months" the kid smirked, very sure of himself._

 _Tony, too prideful for his own good, stopped and turned around, asking "I'm in. what do I gotta do?"_

 _The group of three laughed as they looked at each other with a twinkling on their eyes "Well…" Johnny walked slowly towards him in an air of superiority._

 _God how he hated this kid._

" _You see the abandoned construction over there?" both kids looked at the place "you gotta make one of your things you always do-"_

" _Wait, you want me to make a bomb!?" Tony asked in shock_

" _Let me finish. The only thing you have to do is a small one so then someone comes to clean it and we can go play there. The park is so boring, we could make our club there and go smoking" Johnny ended his statement as he combed his hair._

 _Tony squinted his eyes in anger and folded his arms._

" _Fine!" The 'cool' kid of the school replied, lifting his arms "You're scared, I get it"_

" _Wha- I'm not scared! I'll do it!". As soon as the words came out, the poor Anthony thought worried 'If my Ma finds out I'm so dead'_

A dried laugh came from Jay "So what happened?" he slurred out.

With a sigh, Streets answered "I did it. But of course I didn't really know what I was doing" He paused for a minute and continued "the blast was so strong that it practically destroyed the cement on the street. The authorities thought at first it was some kind of terrorist attack"

Jay laughed and put a trembling hand on his ribs; Streets looked at him in concern, but kept talking, after all, he had kept him awake and responsive.

"But when my Ma read the news she just _knew_ , ya' know? So she gave me the slap of my life and dragged me to the station by the ear -literally- and made me confess in front of the FBI" He laughed along with his teammates and said between laughs "God the look on their faces was priceless! They kept me on close watch but didn't really do anything but warning me that if I do a stunt like that again I'd go to juvie. My Ma didn't let me go play for like six months man, it was tough!"

Tiny shook his head in amusement and asked "So why do they call you _here_ , in the army, like that?"

Streets scoffed with a grimace "That Johnny guy? He enlisted too, I mean he didn't graduated but he just _loved_ to tell that story"

Jay closed his eyes and with a small smile he squeezed his friend's hand and said "Thanks"

Streets nodded and squeezed back "Anytime pal"

* * *

Chicago

A young mailman walked to the precinct as he whistled along with the music playing in his earphones.

"Hey ma'am. Got mail"

Trudy Platt, serious as ever, lifted her eyebrows and took of her glasses. She leaned forward and said to the kid "It Sergeant Platt for you, not Ma'am"

The young man swallowed and nodded apologetically "Sorry Sergeant. I've got mail for you" He extended his arm and left five envelopes on the table, while with his other hand passed her the papers to sign.

Once the guy was gone, Trudy shook her head in disapproval and putting her reading glassed again, she read the envelopes. She passed the first three with disinterest and when she got to the third one that read "Intelligence unit", she called for one of the officers lurking around her desk and told him to leave it on Voight's office.

If she had only seen all of the stamps and the name scribbled in one of the corners of the white paper, her heart would have skipped a beat and Sergeant Platt would have drop whatever she was doing and call for Hank.

 **Uffff that was one** _ **long**_ **chapter**

 **PLEASE REVIEW! AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGT! Is Alan going to live? What's up with the letter? And the bombs?**

 **Just review please! It only takes like fifteen seconds**

 **Love y'all**


	15. Have you ever

**14**

" **Have you ever wanted to know something and at the same time not?"**

 **Hi guys! thank you for all the people who reviewed last chapter! :) :) :) love u**

 **Enjoy a new chapter! I tried to make it medically accurate. I apologize in advance for any mistakes.**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

 **Review at the end;)**

 _Previously_

 _Will looked at him with hopeful, but fearful eyes, as a young patient would ask his doctor about his condition, and stated with a tentative, small smile: "So he's alive"_

 _Mouse looked at him with tormented eyes and said after a moment of thought "As far as we know, yes"._

 _Will leaned his head against the cold wall and laying a hand in Mouse's shoulder he nodded gratefully as he mumbled "Thank you God"; he sighed with a hint of sadness and whispered to himself "Thank you"._

* * *

 _Camp Phoenix, 0640 (am) Dicember 21st_

A tall, well-built mid forties man clenched and unclenched his hands in an anxious manner. The short strands of hair flew carelessly at the mercy of the strong wind as he turned around when he heard his name being called.

"Sergeant Webber!"

With a questioning look on his green, pasty eyes, he lifted an eyebrow.

A young private run towards the sergeant and, taking off his hat in a respectful gesture, he said hastily "Sir, ETA on both of the medical choppers is 3 minutes –and, unconsciously looking briefly at the sky, he continued- "We should be hearing the helixes soon enough". The young soldier saluted sharply and turning his heels around, he left in a hurry.

With a frown of determination, Sergeant James Webber, well known for being one of the two best medics on the camp, bowed his head to the right and said to the other medic team leader.

"Sarah"

The smaller woman, who was fixing the tangled stethoscope that hung loosely around her neck, nodded to confirm she was listening.

"ETA on the choppers 3 minutes"

Sergeant Webber turned around and yelled to both of the teams, each one consisting in four people: three paramedics and one medic for patient. Every medic specialist had a hard look of concentration on their faces. Although neither of them, besides Sergeants Webber and Aviles, knew the _real_ importance of keeping these specific patients alive, they had an unsaid agreement to never give up on any soldier, as they had been baptized together in fire, under the hot, flying bullets that razed their heads as water would on any other baptism.

"Listen up everyone! The patients will be arriving in less than three minutes, so be ready. Mi team will handle patient Staff Sergeant Jay Halstead" –the man scratched his nose at the thought of the condition of his patient- "The last update was that he had not fallen to severe hypothermia and that although in one moment his core temperature rose up to 33 Cº, it fell again to 32,7 Cº, which -needless to say- is concerning. He was given warm IV fluids and warm blankets that worked for a while, but he _will_ need a heated room and lights at the hospital. He has other injuries, but the hypothermia has to be taken care of immediately" –After a brief pause, he stated as an afterthought- "Also, he is responsive and talking coherently, which is good."

Sergeant Sarah Aviles held her chin with her left hand and nodded in agreement every once in a while, and when Sergeant Webber finished his update she raised her voice in a powerful, imposing tone that she had started to perfect with her lousy brothers and finished to master it in the army, when she found herself surrounded by stubborn men that had been reluctant to listen to a woman with a higher rank than theirs.

"Team! Our patient, as you know, spent several days imprisoned behind enemies lines" –her eyes turned darker with sorrow and sympathy at the painful meaning of her words- "He sustained considerable injuries, but what I'm more worried about is the hypothermia he is presenting. The last update I had from his medics was that his core temperature was 27,2 Cº. He is _critical_ soldiers. He is unresponsive, he stopped shivering, his body is stiff, has lower heartbeats, hasn't regained consciousness, they haven't been able to warm him up despite having put him heated IV saline, warm blankets _and_ warm humidified oxygen" –she stopped for a moment, gathering her thoughts and continued rapidly when her ears grasped the first faint sounds of the helixes- "If he continues in this deteriorative state we'll have to re-warm him surgically; he has other injuries so watch out for cracked or fractured bones that can be stabilized from here to the hospital and open flesh than has to be wrapped up in gauze"

Her last words, albeit heard, melted with the powerful, deafening noises of the metallic structure that started to descend, majestically and imposing, just a few meters away from the anxious medics.

* * *

 _Chicago, 19:00, Dicember 20th_

After the sickening news of Jay's disappearance, the intelligence team had unconsciously gathered at their leader's house. They sat in dreadful silence, dispersed on the living and kitchen of Voight's house wearing grim expressions as they waited for something, for _anything_ , that could end with their anguish and concern that flooded their upset minds.

Suddenly, the front door squeaked as it was slowly opened. All eyes turned quickly to the disturbing, unwanted noise, looking for the cause of it.

Three heads, two brown and one slightly orange, appeared in the corridor. They stood silently, looking at the team with tired –and in the case of Will-, reddened eyes. Feeling their bodies too heavy to sustain their weakened legs, Will and Mouse walked to the nearest couch, while Antonio decided to make himself a cup of strong coffee and headed to the kitchen.

With a thump, the brother and the friend dropped heavily on the cushions and, without a single word, Al approached the young doctor and, squeezing his shoulder in respect and support, he gave him his cup of tea -still full- and went back to his seat.

Will nodded his head in appreciation and shortly after lifting his eyes to Voight, he cleared his throat and asked quietly: "Will they call us if anything…?"

The raspy, understanding voice of Voight made its way through the silence of the room, along with a smile of reassurance.

"Yes, I made that clear to the General, so don't worry kid"

Sensing that words were useless at this point, the silence fell again on the room, just as powerful as it had before.

The silence that lingered on the atmosphere ended up overwhelming Erin. She stood up abruptly and left the room in a fast pace to her old room. Kicking the door shut, she finally felt her heart beating a bit less quickly as the security of the four light blue walls engulfed her. With a hand on top of her heart, she exhaled slowly all the air she had been holding up and let her back slowly slide down the wall.

She had been doing an "incredible" job of "keeping it together", as some people would say, for the past few hours, but now, in the solicitude of her room, far away from the prying eyes of her team she felt the suppressed panic rising up in her chest. She closed her eyes shut with such force that made her eyeballs hurt and started breathing in and out, slowly, to calm her heart and to keep inside the salty tears that threatened to fall.

Gradually, small, shuddered sobs cut through the calmed, pointed breaths, until, unavoidable, they won the unfair battle and took over her completely, making her entire body to shake. Erin brought her legs close to her body and crossed her arms around them; desperately, she tried to muffle her gut-wretching cries, hiding her face between her knees and chest.

After a while of just sitting there in misery, she felt embarrassed of herself and drying her tears with the back of her hand in a furious movement, she lifted her exhausted body from the ground and berated herself under her still slightly shuddered breathing.

"Stop it, Erin. Don't be such a baby"

She blew her noise and looked at her reflection in the mirror; under the bright, accusing lights, her face was pale and shattered. With a frown, she wet her face and after drying it, she slapped her cheeks to give them some color and combed her tangled hair. She stood up straight and put a false smile on her face.

Her eyes were still watery and a bit puffy from the crying, but with a big smile and some make-up, she would "hide it extremely well", as some crappy shrink would say, whilst holding his chin with his fingers, in an apparent deep trail of thought about his patient's problems, when actually, he would be mentally insulting the person in front of him, blaming it for his disastrous marriage and shitty, self-destructive stile of life.

After she finished fixing her appearance, the young detective went back to her previous chair and sat slowly, as if to not disrupt the deafening silence. At the sympathetic looks directed to her, she felt her eyes watering again, at which, with a sense of urgency, she folded her arms to block the other presences and set her hard gaze on the carpeted floor.

Thirty minutes had passed since the arrival of Will and company, when the loud, rhythmic tone of Voight's cell phone broke the silence, effectively making everyone jump from their chairs.

With steady, yet slightly reluctant movements, Voight's hand grasped the phone under everybody's hopeful eyes and answered.

"Voight"

The people surrounding him waited patiently, but nervously at the uncertain "mm hm's" coming from Voight.

After a few excruciating minutes a "thank you, keep me updated" was heard. Voight dropped the phone onto the kitchen table and with a small frown, he looked up at the expecting faces.

"They found him and the missing Sergeant"

Everyone held their breath, expecting the next few words that would tell them the fate of their friend, lover and brother.

Voight let himself crack a tentative smile as he said in a lighter tone "They're both alive"

The room erupted in relieved laughs, smiles and pats of congratulation on each other's arms and shoulders.

With a hand covering his eyes, Will dropped his back against the couch and gave a short laugh as he mumbled under his breath "son of a bitch, he did it again, I'm gonna kick his ass when I see him"

Erin smiled broadly at Will's remark and felt an enormous weight being lifted from her shoulders.

The happiness was short lived though, when Voight cleared his throat and said "But…"

That short word was all it took to return the grim, frightened expressions to every man and woman in the room.

Voight sighed once more.

"But, they spent several hours in the mountains at night, under very cold temperatures. He's in the limit of moderate and severe hypothermia, and has other non life threatening injuries (he didn't want to give into the details for the sake of everyone's mental state), but that, combined with the hypothermia, exposure, dehydration, lack of food and exhaustation…" –he stopped briefly to sigh, and, looking apologetically at Will, he finished in a much sympathetic tone- "he's not out of the wood just yet"

At the scary silence that followed the news, Voight's fatherly side took over and, without him even knowing, his mouth moved, instinctively trying to give some comfort. If it was directed to himself or to Will, he didn't know.

"I'm sure he'll pull through. He's a tough guy"

Time passed and not even a blink was heard. The shock stabbed them unexpectedly and brutally, making them feel physically wiped out.

A single, profound sigh from Mouse summed it all up. Again, no words were needed and each person was left to their own thoughts.

Slowly, with exhausted muscles, Will stood up and left the untouched and now cold tea on the table next to the couch. With his arms hanging limply by his sides, he said in a mechanic, rather concerning unattached tone: "I'm going to Jay's apartment. Give me a call if you have any news"

He was leaving his card next to the mug, when Mouse stood too, and mumbled to Will: "Mind some company?"

As a response, the young doctor just shrugged. He had never been that close to Mouse -unlike Jay- but if he was honest with himself, he was a bit scared of being alone in a moment like this, surrounded by Jay's stuff –for some strange and inexplicable reason he _needed_ to be in his brother's home-, and after all, Mouse had been there for his brother's darkest moments when he had not.

"Sure. I'll drive"

* * *

Erin had sat there, rigid, from the moment Voight spoke for the second time. 'Or third?' she asked to herself. Then she thought it didn't really matter.

Feeling her eyes starting to burn, she stood up too, and made its way through the curious and concerned looks of the people around her to the front door. Swiftly, she grabbed the keys to her car and made a desperate run to the small vehicle.

With wide eyes and teeth pressing hard against each other, she pressed her foot against the gas and the car was powerfully directed –without her consciously doing so- to her old bar. She parked in front of the small pub, where she had once been well-known around, and turned off the engine. Only when she took the foot off the pedal and blinked a few times to clear her watery eyes, she realized where she was.

With a silent gasp, realization slapped her in the cheek, like a powerful gust of wind, and gulped in nervousness.

She put a frantic hand on the wheel and the other on top of the key. She twisted it, but her hand froze.

She had started the engine again, she really had, or at least, she had meant for her fingers to do it. But there was a moment of doubt.

She grasped the handle of the door and left it there. Tense. Hesitant.

Abruptly, she opened it just enough so air could seep in and sat there, unmoving, chewing the inside of her cheek as she stared at her white knuckles that still held the handle.

'Just one' the detective though.

'One hasn't killed anyone before… right?' the tail end of the dangerous thought had an underlying tone of hesitation.

She opened the door a bit more.

'It's not like I don't go out for drinks with the guys'

'Yeah, but you know that in situations like these, one might as well be ten', the other part of her mind counterattacked.

'I can control myself, I'm not a baby'

She startled herself when a harsh, dry laugh left her lips. The smile faded quickly though, as she thought that there was nothing worthy to laugh about. With a still iron grip on the door, her eyes wandered around and fell on the passenger's side.

Jay sits there. _Used to_ , she corrected herself.

She surprised herself when she blurted out, "No".

With a determinate frown, she closed the door shut, started the engine and put reverse.

" _Sits_ there"

* * *

 _Camp Phoenix, 0700 (am)_

Two battered, cold bodies were laid onto adjacent, equally cold, examination tables.

With fast, coordinated movements, several hands traveled through the hurt skins, relentless but tender.

A masculine voice cut through the hazy mind of Jay and a pair of soft, determinate eyes appeared in his limited line of vision.

"Jay, you are in Camp Phoenix's hospital. Do you understand?"

Jay found himself unable to move the muscles of his tore lips, at which Sergeant Webber took as a signal and tried again.

"Blink twice for yes and one for no. Can you hear me?"

With great effort, Jay blinked twice.

A smile appeared on the doctor's face.

"That's good Jay. Are you aware that you are in Camp Phoenix hospital?"

Again, a double blink, although this time slower.

"Great Jay" –the doctor stated with a broad smile, truly happy for the responsiveness of his patient- "I'm going to leave you with the nurse here, but you _have_ to stay awake, alright?"

Jay's faint, weak voice croaked under the oxygen mask.

"O… k"

Sergeant Webber gingerly patted Jay's arm, careful to his injuries and asked for status.

One of the doctors of his team answered briskly, without lifting his eyes from Jay's chest: "The cut on his chest stopped bleeding a few minutes ago, but it's infected, Sir. We need to clean it and stitch it up and call Germany so a plastic surgeon can take care of it properly"

Taking his silence as a cue, the other doctor spoke up: "Sergeant, his core temperature rose to 33,2 Cº . His truck is starting to warm up, as well as his extremities"

The last paramedic interrupted, "Yes, his cardiac frequency and arterial pressure are steadily increasing"

With a "hmm" accompanied with a frown of concentration, Sergeant Webber asked, "What about ribs? Eyes? Head?"

The first that had spoken earlier peered quickly at the others and said, "Two slightly cracked and about two more bruised. We didn't feel any internal bleeding" –he pointed at jay's left hand and continued- "besides the raw flesh around the wrists, his left wrist is sprained –not badly though- and two fingers broken. We don't know exactly why, but we're guessing he landed on it as he somehow fell backwards"

He looked at the other paramedics and they took the word.

"Patient has a slight concussion from a hit to the head more than two days ago; I'm guessing when he was captured. We should keep him awake just in case is core temperature lowers, but he should not fall into a coma"

"What about his eyes, any damage?" The sergeant asked lastly, deep in thought.

"He his presenting a non severe corneal abrasion from the exposure to the snow" –the paramedic pointed at the eyes- "The injury is peripheral"

Sergeant Webber, after a moment of thought, said as he fixed a twisted tip of the warm blanket.

"Okay, so first I want a full body x-ray. Second, stabilize the bones that can be stabilized without surgical intervention. Third, all of his open injuries have to be cleaned and patched; stitch the ones that don't need any surgical intervention. Fourth, I want both of his eyes covered with half inch-pad of soft cloth of gauze bandages and if the inflammation grows, give him NSAID eye drops. I want the injury checked at half-day intervals. Lastly…" –he breathed heavily and continued- "Let's keep him in the warm blankets, IV fluids and humidified oxygen; take him to the warm room. I want a constant nurse at his side, checking him every five minutes and –hopefully- when his temperature rises to 35,5 Cº we'll take care of his chest"

He nodded sharply at his subordinates and turned around with a sigh to the frantic conversation that was taking part behind him, where a very different situation was unfolding.

When he saw the desperate look on Sarah's eyes and her hand flaying from one part of her patient's body to another, from the machines and back to the unresponsive body, he asked, quickly putting on his sterilized gloves, "What's happening, Sarah? Tell me what to do"

She scratched furiously and quickly an itchy side of her nose and replied as she checked with a light the response of her patient's eyes.

"We fixed his external injuries the best we could, but I'm focusing on the Hypothermia. His core temperature is dangerously slow. We have him with A-V re-warming, but it isn't working" –she gave a frustrated sigh- "We'll try a peritoneal lavage, but James…"

She looked at him and he finished for her, "It's not looking good"

She nodded in confirmation, "Not at all. If we don't get him out of his critical state, he will fall into cardiac and respiratory failure and/or into a coma" -She shook her head again- "And the hypothermia mixed with the hits to the head he has sustained and the unresponsiveness, the coma possibility became a _very_ strong one. I don't li-"

Her words were brutally interrupted when the paramedic suddenly yelled, "He's crashing!"

Doctor Aviles quickly recovered herself from the initial shock and quickly requested for a crash cart "NOW people! Come on!"

A nurse quickly installed the machine next to the dying patient and put the pads on the man's chest.

Desperate attempts were made by the entire team of medics to revive the Sergeant.

And they did it, but regrettably, like any other situation in life, this one had its pros and cons.

Ten minutes passed after they brought him back from the dead, when a very tired Doctor Aviles came out of the room to talk to her friend, Sergeant Webber.

"What happened?" he asked in a hushed tone.

She sighed "We brought him back"

"But…?" he asked worriedly at her defeated expression.

"He showed five in the Glasgow coma scale"

He squeezed his eyes shut and breathed heavily "Unless Jay knows something, we're not gonna know in time about the threat"

"I know" A quiet response left the woman's lips "And we need to tell the General"

"I know" He replied back in an equally soft voice.

 **I don't know about you guys, but my favorite part is Erin's decision at the bar.**

 **Hope you enjoyed it.**

 **Tell me what if you think Alan is going to LIVE or DIE**

 **Bye bye!**


	16. Everybody waits for something

**Chapter 15**

" **Everybody waits for something"**

A furious tremble assaulted his limbs, again, making his muscles to contract sporadically and painfully. With each spasm, he would be brought back from the dark, blissful unconsciousness, to the agonizing awareness with a disheartened hiss at the ambivalent pain that he felt: from one side, he felt his body floating under freezing water, unable to swim towards the warm surface, and from the other side, a small burning sensation seized his chest and sides, making him feel terribly confused an annoyed at the different pains that traveled roughly through his veins and muscles, both in equal strength and ruthlessness.

This had been going on for over two exhausting hours, although, in the man's fitful sleep he had managed to sense -rather than physically feel- that the unwanted, violent spasms had been slowly, mercifully decreasing.

Unknown to the people standing next to him, he heard everything. Now, _understanding_ those words was a very different story. Jay's drugged mind managed to recognize pieces of phrases that stood out greatly because of the nature of them, like his name, for instance. He scowled just barely and his limbs writhed uncoordinatedly against the restricting blankets that surrounded his weary, leaden body.

Oblivious at the slight movements of his patient, Sergeant Webber kept talking to the nurse and Sergeant Aviles, who had offered to help while she waited for changes on her own patient.

"How's the temperature, nurse?" the reverberating voice of James Webber traveled to the other side of the bed, while he checked the swelling on Jay's eyes.

Light eyes moved briefly from the medical chart resting on light-brown hands to the doctor, and returned. Scribbling down the information, he answered with a hopeful tone, "His core temperature is rising sir. It's now at" –he double checked the results and continued- "at 34.4"

A brief glow of joy crossed both of the doctors' eyes at the update and Sarah sighed soundly in relief. She looked the hands of James moving and prodding Jay's eyes and said, after politely dismissing the nurse.

"That's good, James. He may wake up in a while. How's the swelling?"

"Hmmm" -Sergeant Webber gingerly put down the patches, and scratched his forehead- "It's going down a bit, but if he wakes up in pain we'll use the eye-drops"

He sat on the chair next to the left of Jay's bed and folding his arms, he continued with a small smile "But you know that although the eye abrasions are annoying as hell, if taken care of appropriately they'll heal on their own in a few days"

She dropped her body on the chair installed on the other side of the bed and sighed "I know, I know. I just want a break from the bad news, ya' know?"

"Yeah, I do" He conceded amiably.

The friends fell in a comfortable silence, interrupted only by the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor. James let his eyes close and drifted back to the dreaded conversation they had had almost an hour and forty minutes ago with General Coleman.

 _The young secretary of the General lifted his sweaty forehead from the report he had been filling out when he caught a pair of white scrubs from the corner of his eye._

" _Yes?" The man asked, not so politely accentuating the 's', with a tight smile that made clear that he was irked at the interruption, rather than pleased._

 _The Sergeants looked at each other with barely hidden astonishment. Looking back at the sitting man in front of them, Sarah lifted an authoritative and defiant eyebrow and said "We need to speak to the General immediately about the status of two patients"_

 _To understand the annoyance and insolence of the young private, one thing had to be understood. Since his mother passed away, when he was barely a child, all fatherly correction died along with her, which resulted in the birth of a discourteous, almost uncorrectable personality. Always done what he wanted -as his father always demonstrated a regrettable and neglecting preference for the drinking and violence rather than the well being of his son- he, in this rebellious state, didn't really grasped the necessity of an order, much less to follow it. He never realized, but that attitude was what made his superiors to deliberately put him as a secretary, isolated –sadly- from the rest of the soldiers, not because it was a denigrating occupation (quite the opposite actually, as it had, with great effort, managed to polish some of his attitude), but because, most of the time, he was unable to do teamwork out in the field -despite his excellent academic results throughout his training- and that endangered him and every soul around him. The reason he was still here it's because one of his superiors, the most respected and experienced, I might add, saw right through him –maybe he understood him, maybe he lived it, maybe it was just the age or had a son like him, who knows- and, using the power of his seniority, instructed, rather than requested, to the other superiors to give him some time, that the 'young soldier needed this' and that 'with time he would improve'. Maybe he had been right, maybe not, only time would tell._

 _Contemptuous, he returned his gaze to the papers, scoffed under his breath and mumbled "And I thought the day couldn't get any worse" (which didn't go unnoticed) referring to the broken air-conditioner that hung quiet and mockingly on the wall behind him. He lifted his eyes and said in a plain tone, "He's in a video-conference with Washington" –the corner of his mouth rose disdainfully, and finished with an air of superiority- "Sorry, can't help you. Maybe you want to come back later"_

 _Sergeant Webber had a dangerous look on his face and rested both of his hands against the edge of the secretary's table, tired of the smug manners of the private. With a somber expression, he spoke, his voice low and earnest._

" _That video-conference he's having it's about our patients. Unless you want me to report you for insubordination against a superior officer and disobeying direct orders, you will take us to him"_

 _James set his hard gaze on the annoyed ones of Private 'Mike Jefferson' and for a few seconds the younger man had the boldness of returning it, but then he lowered it submissively when the picture of his dad laughing contemptuously at his face materialized in his mind. Gulping the anger down, he mumbled an apology and called the General on a private line._

 _He spoke with a respectful tone to his direct boss, darting anxious looks at the menacing doctor, who still leaned against the table._

 _He hung up the phone and standing up, led them down the hall and quickly invited them inside the conference room._

 _Luckily for both of the doctors, they had their fare share of field experience and were not easily intimidated, because the sight that greeted them would put any normal person on edge. But they had nerves of iron, which showed on the security displayed on their stances._

 _Around a glassy table, Brigadier General Coleman, Colonel Abraham Hammond, Commander McLaughlin and Staff Sergeant Steve Owens sat rigidly, silently measuring the newcomers. On one of the sides of the table, a rectangular, big screen showed another table full of high-ranked characters._

 _General Coleman stoop up, wasting no time and shook both of the doctors' hands. He quickly introduced them to everyone and as he sat them in adjacent chairs, he said, addressing to the screen._

" _Sirs, these are the doctors' taking care of Staff Sergeant Halstead and Sergeant Rodriguez"_

 _An imposing figure on the screen leaned forward, clearly the one in charge, and asked with an underlying tone of urgency: "What's the word, doctors?"_

 _Sarah spoke first, straightening her back and brushing away a rebel strand of hair off her face._

" _Gentleman, I'm in charge of Sergeant Rodriguez-"_

 _She was interrupted by one of the people sitting on the other side of the transmission._

" _That's the one that has the intel on the bomb threat, right?"_

 _A little startled for the interruption she hesitated slightly, but recovered quickly. "Yes, that's what says in the report. Now let me finish"_

 _At the remark, the man that had asked the question turned a darker shade of red and several of the serious faces changed into a smirk and listened intently to the woman, now more attentive._

" _My patient was brought with several injuries. Among them, the most serious are, first" –she enumerated with her fingers "the hypothermia and second, head injuries"._

 _When she saw a mouth about to open, to ask about the importance of those specific injuries –the same mouth that had interrupted her earlier-, she help up a strong finger accompanied with a hard look that left no room for discussion, and said, "He spent several hours under very cold temperatures, very exposed and with other injuries that made his defenses lower. When he arrived at the camp, he was unconscious, un responsive and had a core temperature of 27,3 Cº, meaning" –she added at the confused expressions- "that he was in a critical state of hypothermia"_

 _When Sergeant Webber saw that Sarah wasn't going to elaborate further, he explained quickly "When the core temperature lowers the heart rate decreases significantly to conserve energy and preserve vital organs. It can be mortal, as it eventually leads to_ _cardiac failure_ _and_ _respiratory failure_ _, and then death, or…" he let the word hang in the air, so Sarah could continue._

" _Or" Sarah said as she leaned forward with a serious look on her face "coma. We dreaded the head injury mixed with the hypothermia, because a structural injury to the central nervous system, in his case a hemorrhage on his brain caused by several blows, can very well cause the patient to fall into that state"_

 _The general sighed soundly and stated, rather than asked, what everybody was wondering "He fell into a coma"_

 _She nodded gravely and said with earnest "Yes. After a cardiac arrest occurred, he wouldn't wake up so we did the tests; he showed 5 in the Glasgow scale. I'm not going to elaborate further and give the long, boring explanation, I'm just gonna say that he's not likely to wake up soon,_ if _he wakes up at all" –She added as a dark afterthought in the form of a whisper- "If he manages to survive the night first"_

 _The room fell into shocked silence at the realization of those words._

" _We have no intel. Nothing. Any camp could blow up at any moment and we are useless" The boss on the other side of the transmission growled frustrated._

 _Sarah gave him a sympathetic look, but said nothing; no words were needed._

" _Maybe not" A voice said after a few seconds._

 _All eyes turned with curiosity to Sergeant Webber._

 _He explained, "Under my care I have Staff Sergeant Halstead and he was conscious and responsive when he was brought in. He was presenting moderate hypothermia and he's responding to the re-warming treatments. He has other injuries, but that's for another time. He and Sergeant Rodriguez were together and there is a possibility that Rodriguez confided the information to Sergeant Halstead"_

 _He let the idea linger for a moment and looking at General Coleman he asked, "Sir, with your permission, I could interview him; see what he knows, but we'd have to wait until he wakes up" –at the wondering, bordering anger looks directed to him, he defended his statement- "From what I understood; he was a prisoner for two days, escaped and kept himself and the Sergeant alive. He probably remained awake for those days, in a constant state of alert. He is physically exhausted. His body_ needs _the sleep, as he is still hypothermic and in pain. If you want him thinking and talking coherently I'll have to wait until he either wakes up on his own, or when he reaches an adequate temperature to be woken up" –he gently put his extended hands on the table, palms facing the cold glass, as if to make them understand the importance of his words- "He has, among other things, a large laceration on his chest and we have it open until we can intervene surgically, so we have him on pain meds, otherwise, it would be agonizing. And I will_ not _take him off of them to get information out of him". -He stated the last words with a low, menacing voice- "If he can't talk then he won't"_

 _The idea brought a few shakes of heads and whispers of both excitement and discouragement among the people, including Coleman._

" _That's fine with me, Sergeant" –He pointed a finger at the doctor and continued, marking his words- "You find out anything, and I mean,_ anything _, and you call me on my private number". He held out a card and addressed Sergeant Aviles._

" _Sergeant, seeing the precarious condition of Sergeant Rodriguez I imagine that you want him transferred to Germany?"_

" _Yes Sir. As soon as he is stable enough for transport"_

" _Alright. Unless anybody as anything to add…" –General Coleman scanned the room quickly, waving his hand in the process and finished by saying- "It's settled, then. We'll wait for your updates" The general stood up, his action respectfully mirrored by everyone else in the room, and accompanied the doctors to the door. He closed it behind them._

 _The general turned around and stretching his tense neck sighed, "Sergeant Owens, show us how you plan to proceed with the bomb squad"._

 _As the man spoke, moving a relentless finger around maps of different camps that fell into the possible area for the attack, Coleman thought for the first time in his career: 'I'm too old for this crap'. He stole a quick glance out the window and let his mind wander briefly at the thought of retirement._

' _After this whole mess is over… maybe some time next year'._

 _He shook the thought away and returned his attention to the mouth moving hurriedly in front of him._

James was awoken suddenly from his slumber when large fingers clutched his shoulder and shook it in a strong motion.

"James"

He grumbled at the voice and mumbled sleepily "later"

"James! Your patient. He's waking up"

His eyes opened suddenly, his fatigue long forgotten. Rubbing his eyes quickly, he stood up and positioned himself next to Jay's twitching body.

Sergeant Webber checked the monitors with one single look; already too used to it to take longer than that, and returned his soft and slightly concerned gaze at his soon to be conscious patient.

Still looking at him, he asked to the other doctor filling the room, "Sarah, how's the temp?"

"Rising. It's at 35.1"

"That's good. That's good". He gingerly put his left hand on top of Jay's arm and said to him in a commanding, yet caring tone: "Jay wake up, everything's alright" –at the uneasiness running through the lines on the young man's face, the doctor rested his other hand on his patient head, the strands of hair softly grazing his fingers, and insisted- "Jay you're at the hospital on Camp Phoenix. I'm Doctor Webber and you're alright, son, so don't worry, okay? Can you hear me?"

Jay remained unresponsive, but moved his lips quickly, silently mouthing words. At the sight, James insisted again, "Just squeeze my hand if you do". He grabbed Jay's hand and waited. Again, there was no response.

Concern flashed through Sarah's eyes and asked, "Why isn't he responding, James? He was responsive before"

Sergeant Webber pondered for a moment what could be the cause of the unresponsiveness of his patient and, when the frequency of the heart monitor started to elevate dangerously, he finally understood.

He yelled back at Sarah, his gaze set hard onto the agitated Jay.

"Sarah! Help me get the eye patches off!"

Mere seconds later, nurses were needed when Jay wouldn't calm down and had his arms and legs frantically moving all over the place; Sergeant Webber finally managed to take off the patches and held Jay's face between his firm hands and yelled at his face words of assurance.

Jay was trembling out of sheer terror and his hands desperately clutched the sheets underneath the warm blankets. He felt cold, nervous drops of sweat running down his spine and armpits. His throat tightened merciless, and abruptly, he felt the air leaving his body to, apparently, never return; he gasped for air, violently, arching his back away from the soft bed, the movement making the soft gauze that surrounded securely his opened gash on his chest to stain with bright red. As he whipped his head from one side of the pillow to another and kicked his legs in a desperate attempt to free himself from the claustrophobic blankets around him, his drugged mind registered with dread how firm hands grabbed his arms and legs, and how fingers besieged his cheeks.

When he had started to wake up from his drugged induced sleep a few minutes before, he started to register his surroundings by pieces, grasping what he could from his dazed, unconnected senses. The first thing that came to his mind and that actually stayed there to be deciphered, like when a small child would go from one puzzle to another without really finishing any of them until he found one that would caught his attention entirely, was the softness below him and almost immediately after, the warmth emanating -externally speaking- from all around him. He found himself suddenly transported to another time on another bed.

Unfortunately, dark inventions of his mind quietly started to lurk on the edges of his, only to attack later on, slowly and surreptitiously like a venomous snake, crawling under the sheets of the pleasant ones.

 _He moved his hand and crashed against soft, warm skin. Smile spreading on his face, he turned his body to face the other one that slept profoundly, wearing a smile of its own._

 _With loving eyes, he absorbed the relaxed face. He admired greatly every edge and imperfection of it, although to him, she was nothing_ but _perfect_. _Possessed by a strong, sudden urge, he gingerly touched her cheek, tugging a silky, slightly curly strand of hair, behind her ear. She frowned shortly at the touch and then, unconsciously, moved closer towards it._

 _She moved her face until it touched Jay's forehead and smiled again in her sleep._

 _Heart beating faster, he rested a gentle hand on her waist and, closing his eyes, her let himself feel the gracious, soft scent of chamomile that emanated from her hair. Jay stayed there, content, wondering what would be of him if it weren't for Erin; he sighed soundly, breathing the disturbing thought away._

 _At the soft breeze hitting her face, she opened her honey eyes, only to be greeted by light blue orbits, looking at her intently._

 _Leaving her eyes on Jay ones for a few more seconds, she asked playfully, with a small smirk as she closed her eyelids, eyelashes melting with each other. "It's rude to stare at a woman, you know?"._

 _At the lack of remark from the young man, she opened her eyes again; this time with some worry at the thought that maybe she had said it harsher than intended._

" _I'm sor-"_

 _She laughed loudly with a broad smile brightening her face._

" _What?! I have something on my face or somethin'?"_

 _Her hand traveled quickly through her face and finding nothing, she let her hand fall on his neck and asked, this time with a wondering smile. "What?"_

 _He had been smiling the entire time she spoke, unable to find his voice. At her questioning glance, he blurted out, "I love you"_

 _When he realized what he had said, his smile left his face, unsure of the reaction she would have. Feeling his cheeks getting hotter by the second when he saw the shocked expression on her face, he shut his eyes close._

 _At the touch of caring fingers brushing his jaw, he felt his heart hammering hard against his chest and he gulped nervously._

" _I love you too"_

 _Eyebrows lifted in surprise, he looked at her and gave her an apprehensive and hopeful small smile that said everything._

 _Still smiling, she kissed him, hoping to express the intensity of the feeling. When they separated, he let his fingers to feel the soft skin of her face, elation pulsing through his body._

 _He frowned questioningly, when he felt wetness under his fingertips._

 _He opened his eyes and the question he was about to ask evaporated to oblivion. A flash of adrenaline engulfed him completely, and, terrified, he jumped backwards as he screamed in sheer horror._

 _With uneven breaths, Jay had his eyes irremediably fixed on the young woman sprawled on the white sheets. His eyes burned when the thick curtain of shock started to lift, leaving the scenery to conscious thought._

 _Unable to stand the gruesome picture in front of him anymore, he shut his eyes close and set his jaw hard, trying not to pass out from the disgust and pain. Having controlled his stomach, he opened his eyes that dripped with dread._

 _He choked back a sob when the void, lifeless eyes of Erin looked back at him. Part of her skull was sunken, and the terrifying hollow space was filled with sticky blood and brain matter that dripped lazily to the mattress. A drop of the blood got stuck on the once vivid and beautiful eye of the girl, to finally fall on the sheet after hanging in the curved, large eyelash in an uncertain tremble._

 _His stomach won in the end and in a quick movement, he dropped his head to the right and vomited violently onto the wooden floor._

 _He cried inconsolably; gut-wretching sobs making his body to shake in fear and grief. After what it seemed like forever, Jay lifted himself from the ground and stood there in the middle of the room; his eyes lost and distant._

 _He was forced to abandon his state of shocked stupor when a brutal shudder ran through his spine. With a grim expression, he yelled in a heartbreaking tone, strained with emotion, as he pulled his hair with shaky fingers in desperation:_

" _What the fuck is happening!?"_

 _With wide eyes he spun his body around when his surroundings started to change drastically. As he turned, a curtain of black painted the once warm walls and furniture, leaving little to no light on the room. He looked down at his body, realizing that he was no longer standing up. He tried to free himself from the restraining ropes that trapped his hands and legs to a wooden chair, making his extremities to bleed profusely at the burning that the ropes made against the exposed flesh._

 _He abandoned his efforts when another terrifying fact struck his mind: he couldn't see now._

 _He couldn't see a fucking thing._

 _Possessed with confusion and terror, he yelled on and on for help, hoping that maybe –just maybe- someone would hear his desperate pleads for salvation. Yells slowly transformed into whispers of despair as he shook his head in denial, closing his eyes with enough force to make them hurt. With a voice that could only be compared to the one of a lost child, he murmured, suddenly too scared –ironically- to be heard by someone: "Just… help"_

" _You ain't gettin' any help, sport"_

 _Startled by the sudden manifestation of another presence, he spun his head violently to the source of the deep sound._

 _With his breathing caught in his throat, his strained his eyes to see the figure as he stuttered, "Wh- who's there?"- At the silence that followed, he felt the absurd need to explain himself- "I just… I can't see"_

 _Suddenly, a powerful light shone brightly on top of where the unknown person had spoken, making the sinuous shadows grotesquely larges under the glow, distorting the figure that possessed them._

 _The strange and somewhat disturbing comparison of the man with the melted painting of a demon crossed vaguely the mind of the soldier._

 _Dull eyes gazed at Jay and with a crooked smile, the man said in a disturbing calm voice:_

" _We never got out"_

 _Jay shoot him a questioning look, at a loss about what the man meant._

 _Exasperated, the man lifted his hands just barely, as they were tightly bounded to an alarming similar wooden chair._

" _You tried to escape Jay… Mikal? Alan? Rings a bell? No?"_

 _Realization dawned on Jay. His face lost all possible shade of color and asked, apprehensive:_

" _I didn't escape?"_

" _No you didn't!"_

 _Jay whipped his face at the new voice that had screamed in front of him._

 _At mere inches of his face, frigid eyes, glazed with craziness, stared mockingly at Jay._

" _You're all mine"_

 _The new face laughed manically as he twisted a blade in his hands, threateningly close to Jay's face._

 _Jay shook his head violently and whispered incessantly, desperately trying to convince himself that this was a dream, just a freaking, disturbing nightmare._

" _It's not real, it's not real, it's not real, it's not real…"_

 _He mumbled the words as if they were some precious prayer, too valuable to be recited above a whisper. He thought irrationally that maybe if he raised his voice the evil man would take them away forever._

" _You never came back. You promised" A voice said accusingly._

 _He turned his head to the left, to the new voice._

 _This was different though, because he knew this voice._

 _Shocked, he gasped, "But… it's… how? You're… you're dead" He finished in a chocking voice._

 _Erin leaned forward and resting her hands on her knees she said with a flare of anger on her eyes, paying no deed to Jay's confused statement, "You promised. You lied!"_

 _She slapped him hard on the cheek and yelled at him, tears streaming down her face, "You died and you left me alone! You promised!"_

 _Desperate, he yelled back:_

" _I'm sorry! God I'm so sorry!"_

" _You did this" Erin replied coolly._

 _She raised a dark pistol and pointed the barrel to her temple; she put her finger on the trigger and said with a pained expression, "You didn't come back, Jay. Why didn't you?"_

"No!" Jay screamed frantic, thrashing around in his bed.

Doctor Webber, tired and desperately trying to wake up Jay from his nightmare, put his face in front of Jay's anguished one and roared back, "Sergeant Halstead _wake up_! NOW!"

Apparently, the reverberating, deep voice of the doctor cut through the hazy mind of Jay, because suddenly, he turned deadly still at the command.

Jay blinked several times and set his eyes on Sergeant Webber's resolute ones. Frowning in confusion, he slurred out, "What h'ppen'd doc?"

James sighed in relief and after quickly ordering the nurses standing beside them to let go of Jay's arms and legs, he slid his eyes on his patient and answered kindly, "You had a panic attack on your sleep, Jay. But it's all good now"

He patted Jay's leg amiably and continued, "Can you tell me how you feel?"

Under the oxygen mask, Jay licked his lips and swallowing hard, he replied slowly, in an exhausted tone "Um… Cold and uh… my" –he coughed and winced at the pain it caused- "Chest… it really… hurts"

"I know I'm sorry about that, you moved a lot on your panic attack. But you're on pain meds; we just raised a bit the dosage"

"'Kay…" -His eyes closed, but he kept talking- "My… eyes are… burning"

The sergeant pointed a finger to one of the nurses, telling her to give him the eye drops and said to Jay, "Nothing to worry about that Jay, you suffered a corneal abrasion, but it should heal well on the next couple of days". The sergeant ushered everyone out of the room, including Sarah, and carefully and professionally, he applied the medication. After checking his chest and other injuries, James said, "Jay I have to put these eye patches on your eyes to protect your injury, okay?"

At the slight nod from Jay, he put them back and asked, resting his hand on his patient's arm, "Jay I'm sorry to do this but higher ups are putting a lot of pressure on this" –Jay turned his head to the sound and frowned, asking what was it about- "Well, Sergeant Rodriguez had information about an attack and they need to know if he told you anything"

At the words, Jay grabbed with force the arm of James and turned his blind eyes to the doctor, screaming in concern, "God! Alan! How's he? Is he ok?"

Sergeant Webber gave him a sympathetic look and remembering that he couldn't see him, answered in a serious tone, "I'm sorry to tell you this but…"

Jay's face turned white, at which the doctor reassured quickly, "He's not dead, but…" –James paused for a second and continued earnestly- "he fell into a coma and he's still critically hypothermic"

The doctor tightened his grip, warning Jay the seriousness of the situation.

"The next 24 hours are critical"

Jay sighed soundly, his voice dripping with sadness. A few minutes passed and Sergeant Webber asked again, his tone caring and apologetic.

"What do you remember, Jay?"

 _Camp Phoenix, a few hours later_

A small, slightly overweighed, tanned man limped his way to his small business, pressing a large piece of wood that served him as a cane down on the sand, creating a small whirl of dust with each step. Soldiers passed by, some of them shooting him absentminded waves of a hand or a small nod of recognition at him, some more effusive than others. At every greeting he nodded sharply in return; the bandana around his mouth successfully hiding the expression of hate and disgust, leaving only the eyes to reveal the intensity of the feeling of disdain radiating from the dark ovals, which he also managed to hide by dropping them to the ground with each nod.

Once he sat down behind the table where the merchandise lay, on some deteriorated chair, that threatened to fall apartwith each shift of weight, he checked no soldiers were passing nearby and as he massaged his leg, he took out his barely functioning cell phone and dialed the number he knew by heart, after having called it so many times.

The merchant greeted respectfully, suddenly sitting straight:

"Salaam, Assad"

" _Sahr mo nekmrgha, Faqir"_

"I've been ex-"

Faqir stopped midsentence and eyed exasperated at a soldier that had approached the table and roamed interested through the items in display. Grabbing one of the DVD's, the young private asked with a polite smile, his cigarette moving along with his lips:

"Hey, how much for this?"

The oldest man gave him a quick, angry look and replied with a thick accent as he covered the phone with his hand, "Nothing. Present for you, first buy"

The soldier smashed what was left of the cigarette with the sole of his boot and exhaling the gray fume, he exclaimed with a pleased smile, "Really? Awesome man, manana!"

Faqir mumbled a quick "se schai" and waited a few more seconds until the soldier was out of earshot to renew the conversation. He stuck the cell phone again to his ear and after excusing himself for the interruption, he continued with an earnest and eager tone, "As I was saying, Faqir, I've been expecting instructions" –he lowered his voice when a group passed in front of his tent, despite knowing that the regular soldier didn't understand more than a few words of Pashto- "What is the word, brother?"

The voice spat in a dark voice, _"Still in motion. You have everything?"_

"I do"

" _And your contact?"_

"Still in"

" _Are you positive? One can never completely trust these Americans"_

Faqir answered briskly, slightly offended at the remark:

"He's solid. I made sure of it"

After a brief silence, Assad conceded:

" _Alright then. Have everything ready to be installed in 48 hours._ _Allah mo mal scha"_

"Allah mo mal scha" Faqir echoed enthusiastically.

The merchant let his hands fall slowly onto his lap and let his longing eyes wander around the camp. He wore the expression of a man that realized, after having waited too long for something that the distant future he had been anxiously expecting for, suddenly became a very immediate one.


	17. A hard line to walk

**CHAPTER 16**

" _ **Forbidden to remember, terrified to forget; it was a hard line to walk"**_

 _ **Stephenie Meyer**_

 _ **Hey guys, I owe you an explanation and an apology. I haven't updated in so long because (and damn my life for this) studies come first. So I apologize for not updating.**_

 _ **Please review, you'd make my day.**_

 _Previously_

" _He's not dead, but…" –James paused for a second and continued earnestly- "he fell into a coma and he's still critically hypothermic"_

 _The doctor tightened his grip, warning Jay the seriousness of the situation._

" _The next 24 hours are critical"_

 _Jay sighed soundly, his voice dripping with sadness. A few minutes passed and Sergeant Webber asked again, his tone caring and apologetic._

" _What do you remember, Jay?"_

" _Alright then. Have everything ready to be installed in 48 hours._ _Allah mo mal scha"_

" _Allah mo mal scha" Faqir echoed enthusiastically._

 _The merchant let his hands fall slowly onto his lap and let his longing eyes wander around the camp. He wore the expression of a man that realized, after having waited too long for something that the distant future he had been anxiously expecting for, suddenly became a very immediate one._

* * *

 _Camp Phoenix, 21st of December, 1600 hrs (9 hours and 30 minutes more than Chicago)_

"What do you remember, Jay?"

The doctor waited patiently as a frown of concentration lingered on the battered and slightly skinned face of the soldier. After two minutes, Jay opened his dried, cracked lips just barely but closed them again as no important information came back to his mind. Deflated, an exasperated grunt left his mouth and shortly lifting his patched, blinded eyes at James, he rested his head back onto the pillow in disappointment.

Jay lifted his hands apologetically and croaked out "Sorry doc… I don't remember much after we escaped"

Purposely not letting his voice show the feelings of disappointment, James gave him a reassuring smile –albeit unnecessary- and rested a hand on Jay's shoulder. "That's okay, sarge, its normal for this kind of head trauma. You just rest now"

At seeing the lips of Jay pressing hard against each other in frustration, the doctor squeezed the shoulder, saying "Don't beat yourself up, it'll come back eventually"

A sarcastic, dried laugh reverberated inside the four walls. Jay made an effort and spoke up in a hard tone. "Yeah, but it might be too late"

James winced at the blunt truth of the words; sighing, he straightened his back and picked up his patient's medical chart.

"Maybe, but there's nothing you can do about it except rest and focus on getting better so the memories can come back, alright?"

Jay sighed soundly and shrugged almost imperceptible.

'Well that's something…' Doctor Webber thought

"But you're still my patient, therefore, my concern is _you_ " -He flipped through the pages and continued with a gentle, yet earnest tone at the edge of his voice- "The good news are that we controlled any serious injuries and although there'll be a couple of hours until you get back to your normal core temperature, you'll be just fine"

James lifted his eyes from the chart and directing his attention to Jay's stony face, he continued with his assessment "You got two slightly cracked ribs on your left side and about two more bruised, one on your left and the other to your right. Luckily, they didn't cause any internal damage-"

"Not exactly feeling lucky" Jay mumbled under his breath

James closed his mouth, effectively shutting off his words. The air inside the small room had suddenly gotten heavy. His eyes softened and closing the chart, he sat at the side of the bed and folded his arms. In a slightly scolding yet caring manner, he said:

"Sergeant, I know that you went through a very traumatic and exhausting experience, but be grateful for what you have right now; you are _alive_ , Jay"

Jay lowered his head in something similar to shame and played with his fingers, finding his lack of vision terribly disturbing, as he felt exposed without it.

Softening his tone, the doctor continued, putting a hand on Jay's forearm, "You'll be leaving this camp with a few cracked bones and scars, now I'm _not_ trying to downplay your injuries, hell, I already asked for a psych eval, but what I'm trying to say is that-"

"That I'm lucky" Jay scoffed, not quite believing the words.

"Yes" James paused for a brief moment and continued, seeing that the soldier wasn't yet very convinced "You know who was in this bed up until a few days ago?"

Jay shocked his head, dreading for a story he was sure he didn't want to know.

"A twenty two year old private. He lost most of his right leg after he stepped on a land mine. He went back to his girl depressed and with a limb less. Jay… you _are_ lucky, you are alive _and_ healthy, well, given the circumstances" James patted his patient's arm and stood up "okay? Let's cheer up"

Finally, Jay conceded and smiled softly, thinking of his own girl waiting for him at home.

"Okay"

"Good, now as I was saying…" He opened again the forgotten chart and read "besides the raw flesh around your wrists, your left wrist is sprained –not badly though- and you got two fingers broken, a mild concussion that should go in a couple of days and a corneal abrasion to your eyes that should heal well in a few days. You may vomit as a cause of your head injury, so let the nurse know if it gets too bad to give you something for the nausea or for the pain"

The voice of the raven haired doctor suddenly lowered its pitch to a much lower one as he stated seriously:

"Jay, the only injury I'm most concerned about right now is the gash on your chest"

The alluded man paled visibly and his wiggling finders went still at the memory of Mikal and his disturbing raving for blood and pain… he comforted himself knowing that his captor was dead, buried by the merciless snow somewhere in the middle of the desolated mountain. Holding onto that thought tightly, he lifted his chin in a symbolic gesture of defiance and endurance and prodded the doctor to continue with a sharp nod.

"We were waiting for your temperature to go up so we could treat your wound surgically; now that you're fairly well in that aspect do you give us the permission to operate on you?"

In a raspy, tired voice, Halstead replied "Sure, than-" Suddenly, Jay's muscles contracted, almost painfully, and blindly grabbed James' arm; turning his head to where the voice of the doctor had come from, he yelled as loud as his throat permitted him "Shit I forgot! How's my team?!"

James smiled at the worry that had besieged the soldier's face and put a hand over the one that was clenched around his arm rather painfully.

"They're all fine. Kinda tired but fine" A laugh came out of the doctor's mouth as he said in a humorous tone "Hell I had to kick them out after they were here for several hours, they could barely stand. Once you're out of the op I'll let them visit you"

Jay let go of the doctor's arm with a relieved sigh "Good"

James smiled and wrote something down in the chart and he called for the nurse to have everything ready for the operation. As he left the room, he turned around briefly, his hand just above the metallic handle. Turning his head just barely, he said:

"I read your medical history" -he paused for a moment and smiled- "You'll be alright Sergeant, I'm sure of it"

He opened the door and left, proud of himself when he noticed the shy, grateful smile that appeared on the Sergeant at his words of encouragement.

' _Good, the kid needs to believe it from square one'_ he though with his spirits suddenly uplifted. He had seen too many lives destroyed from lack of faith in themselves. The sergeant was a survivor and he was going to make damn sure that he stayed that way.

With that thought on the back of his mind, James entered the small room adjacent to the operation room and twisted the faucet handle, neatly and methodically scrubbing his arms under the cold water, efficiently erasing all traces of filth.

* * *

 _Chicago, 21_ _st_ _of December, 2:30 am_

After that almost disastrous decision that would have turned Erin's worried thoughts about Jay into one's filled with guilt, self-loathing and humiliation, she made a hasty retreat to the only place that had always, truly, given her a sense of security and had been a safe haven to clear her mind in the solicitude of the quiet office.

Opening the door of her car and stepping outside into the cold night, Erin stretched her stiff neck as she closed her eyes. Leaning her weary body against the car she let out a shaky sigh, letting the cold breeze of winter to make its way through her nose as she breathed pointedly to calm herself. With tired movements, the detective, after having achieved some sense of stability over her breathing, opened her dull, slightly puffy eyes and forced her cramped muscles to slowly move, with some air of reverie surrounding her body, towards the entrance of the precinct.

Mumbling an almost intangible "hello" to Sergeant Pratt, who sat bored at her desk, rhythmically tapping –rather annoyingly, although no one would dare to voice that thought- a black pen against the plain, wooden table, Erin walked with her head down towards the entrance of the intelligence unit.

The Sergeant returned the greeting with an absent nod, her features skirting exasperation as she cursed almost imperceptible under her breath about her bad luck, referring to the late hours of her shift.

The whole situation, however, was lost to the worried detective who, as soon as her exhausted eyes caught a glimpse of the glittering metallic doors that lead to the offices of the Intelligence Unit, she had to restrain herself from pushing officers, civilians and all sort of delinquents that would have to face the wrath of the desk Sergeant's eyes later on, to get to the desired goal. The short haired detective opened the door with shaky and sloppy movements and when she heard the sound of solid metal clicking, she felt her legs shake under the now hard to maintain weight, but taking a deep, controlled breath Erin pressed a strong, yet weak hand against the wall and forced her muscles to climb the cold, impersonal steps the led to the offices.

Once inside, the young detective let out a shaky sigh and let her eyes wander around the desks, her heart aching painfully when Jay's one came to view. Resignedly rubbing her tired eyes, Erin slowly made her way to Voight's office and quietly locked the door behind her. Finally, she sank her weary body onto the comfortable chair and closed her eyes, hoping to erase the last, dire days that had been unavoidably imprinted on her mind forever.

Erin managed to rest about half an hour in peace, when a sudden crash made her muscles clench and her eyes open in surprise. Putting a hand on her chest to calm her raising heartbeat, she breathed slowly and said to herself that it had only been a small disturbance at the first floor. Once calmed, Erin, realizing that sleep wouldn't come any time soon, let her bored eyes to fall onto the wooden desk of the man that had become, in so many ways, a father to her.

Inching forward, she leaned her left arm on the smooth surface and rested her head on her hand as she touched, absentmindedly, a stack of papers. Uninterested, she lifted one of the papers and a yellowish envelope fell to the floor.

With a small frown of curiosity, she picked it up. Dark ink imbedded in the delicate paper read _Intelligence unit. 3510 S._ _Michigan Ave_ _nue_ _Chicago, Illinois_ _, U.S._.

At first look, she almost left it in its original place, feeling slightly guilty about snooping, but, when her foggy and tired mind finally processed the handwriting, her breath got caught in her throat, every single muscle freezing along with the world around her. Precious seconds went by and nothing happened, until she forced herself to leave her state of shock and with trembling fingers and glazed eyes, the young, anxious detective opened the envelope with enormous delicacy. She closed her eyes and inhaled and exhaled slowly, preparing herself for what she was about to see.

Gingerly, she turned the envelope upside down, letting its contents to fall onto the desk. A small, nostalgic smile graced her lips when the familiar handwriting of one Jay Halstead made its appearance in the form of black ink that shone brightly against the pristine, white papers. Hesitant, she took the precious cargo and read to whom they were addressed to.

' _Mouse, Will, Erin'._ Three letters, three persons. Erin wondered briefly why the others didn't get one, but curiosity was too strong to give those thoughts any more time than the strictly necessary, so in haste, the young detective took hers and left the other two inside the envelope.

"Okay Erin, you can do this" She murmured to herself, trying in vain to uplift her spirits.

Knowing that now was as good as any time, she nodded silently and, fixing her hair in a nervous manner, Erin opened the letter and started reading.

' _Dear Erin,_

 _I'm not going to start this letter by saying something like 'if you're reading this I must be already dead', because that's, one, seriously depressing and second, not true.'_

A small laugh left Erin's mouth at the words, thinking how Jay would always manage to make her smile even when he wasn't present. Shaking her head in nostalgic amusement, she kept reading.

' _When you waited with me outside the precinct, the night I left, you made me promise you that I would come back and I didn't promised it. I swore it to you. And I intend to follow that oath by heart. If it were to happen that I don't… come back to you, I want you to know that I died doing everything humanly possible to prevent this. I'm deeply sorry if this has happened and I know it's not a comfort after seeing so many widowers, girlfriends, family and friends hearing the same words that I'm about to say to you, but I feel the need to write them anyway, because they're true. If I died, I died serving my country, at peace and profoundly grateful and honored for my service. Before I met you, the only comfort I had were my buddies and sometimes Will. But then you showed up you made my life, at the same time, extremely more complicated and much brighter and simple. Erin, know that if I die in action my last thoughts will be of you; yes, as I said I'm proud of what I've done for my country, but nothing will ever be more important than you._

 _I apologize if this isn't the words you expected or if this letter was too short. But then again, I've never been too good with words and I'm also sorry for that, for not telling you how I felt more often or simply talking to you more, because you make my life better Erin Lindsay and I should let you know that more often._

 _I love you Erin and I always will. I just hope that if I don't make it, as hard as it sounds, that you eventually go out and meet someone that makes you laugh and smile and forget about all the horrible things we see every day and hopefully, make the pain every day less painful until I become just a happy memory. Don't go back to the horrible habits Erin, because although I trust you with my life and soul, I know –truly, from my past experiences- that sometimes it's just too hard and the situation becomes unbearable; if you find yourself in that position go to someone Erin, forget your pride. Your life is more important that stupid things like pride. I've been there and learned from my mistakes. I know you like to contradict me about everything, sweetie, but believe me on this one, you don't want to go down that road._

 _Please tell the team I didn't have the time to write more, as I barely had the time to write this one; tell them that I consider them my family, that I love them and that I'm grateful about everything they taught me, which was a lot. I hope I could say more, but no words will ever express my gratitude for them and the opportunity they gave me, the opportunity to become a part of something great and life changing._

 _Just remember that I love you like I've never loved anyone, Erin._

 _Jay_

As the young detective read, more and more tears filled her eyes until they became impossible to hold back and, with a resigned scoff, she listened to Jay. For once, detective Erin Lindsay let her pride aside and cried. Desperate sobs made her body tremble and, between her hazy movements, she miraculously managed to not wet the letter and leave it in front of her. Another flood of heartbreaking tears fell freely down her face when, through her blurry vision, the last words of the letter looked back at her.

She had been hugging herself, leaning her head against the edge of the table and shaking violently when, suddenly, strong arms enveloped her weakened frame. Caring fingers stroked her soft hair as a deep and raspy, but yet incredibly gentle voice, spoke to her softly.

"It's gonna be alright kiddo. He'll come back"

Frantic hands hugged Voight's strong body back and the young detective hid her face in the crook of his neck, as another fit of cries erupted.

Voight sighed and kept stroking her head.

"It'll be ok"

It had to be.

* * *

 _Camp Phoenix, General Coleman office; 21st of December, 1900 hrs_

Sergeant James Webber sat in an uncomfortable chair inside the tent of General Coleman. A sense of dread filled the air as the General paced back and forth deep in thought, behind the doctor, with his arms behind his back and his head low and a scowl that now seemed permanent on his face.

The General stopped pacing and with rigid movements, returned to his chair and sat on it as he interlocked his fingers.

"He has no recollection _at all_ of what happened after the escape?"

The Sergeant briefly stirred in the uncomfortable chair and replied apologetically, "I'm afraid not, General"

Coleman cursed under his breath and said, "Can he regain his memory and, if so, when will it return?"

"Honestly, General?" James shook his head and continued after a moment of thought "Head injuries are always a mystery, but given his type of injury I'd say that there is a high possibility for the lost memories to come back although I wouldn't dare to say when, no one can know"

The General sighed tiredly and the doctor pretended not to notice. After a few seconds, Coleman nodded and dismissed the goodhearted doctor with a wave of his hand and an honest, yet exhausted thank you. After all, General Coleman had only gotten a few hours of light slumber in the past… two days? Or has it been three? Guess it didn't matter.

With a shrug, Coleman called Private Jefferson and asked him to bring Staff Sergeant Steve Owens and Colonel Abraham Hammonds. It appears, after all, that the bomb squads had just been given the green light.

* * *

 _Somewhere in Camp Phoenix, 21st of December, 2100 hrs_

The crooked form of the limp merchant made its way to the small tent where he kept his merchandise and waited for the young man to come. As he waited, he sighed in contempt and a lopsided smile landed on his face when he saw nothing but darkness around him and, naturally, the surveillance light posts that shone brightly a dozens of meters away, the distance between him and the light effectively making him disappear among the shadows.

When his father had died, his brother, Assad Abdullah, became the man of the house. He remembers the day his father died –Allah rest his soul- with great clarity.

' _Clarity…'_ Faqir Abdullah pondered on that word for a moment. He let out a scoff at the ironic coincidence. Clarity, exactly what had made his father die.

The night after he and his brother saw his father being gunned down, Assad woke him up and led him outside by the hand. His dark eyes looked down to his brother as if holding important knowledge. He squeezed his hand and pointed at the sky. He said:

"Remember this for the rest of your life Faqir"

His younger brother widened his eyes in anxious anticipation and waited patiently. Assad returned his gaze to the vast cosmos above them.

"The darkness is your friend, Faqir. Embrace it. Father died because he was in the light"

Assad Abdullah crouched in front of his small brother and his voice deepened.

"In darkness you don't exist. Do you understand, Faqir?"

The little one had nodded gravely, with an air of seriousness that only children possessed. It would be years until he would finally understand the words of his brother. And they had made so much sense.

The slightly overweighed man was pull out of his reverie when a young voice that he had come to know so well, greeted him.

"Hello, sir"

Faqir Abdullah was silent for a few moments as he checked their surroundings. When he saw nor heard no one, he replied, "Salaam young man"

The other one scoffed and echoed what the merchant had said, _"Young man._ Right. Why do you call me like that? Is not like we don't know each oth-"

The older man interrupted him with an angry hiss: "In here we don't" After a tense silence, he resumed, "This is business, my American friend, nothing more, nothing less"

The other one cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable. "Right, well I'm here, aren't I?"

"Indeed you are"

The soldier shifted his weight between his legs and stated nervously, "I have news. The bombs squads are going to start canvassing the camps tonight. Three squads for each, two sweeps per day, one at 0600 and the other at midnight"

"So we have two hours"

"Um… Yes" the private actually had the audacity of looking nervous as he schemed a terrorist attack against his own country. What a hypocrite.

The merchant gave him a few trinkets as he said in a low voice, "Find a way to not let them know where the bombs are. Go now, manana for your purchase"

"Anytime" The young soldier was about to leave, when a malicious smile spread across his face. "I already offered my assistance to the bombs squads; seeing that they have their hand full and Christmas is coming they are taking as much help as they can. They trust me, don't worry"

With that, the traitor parted, coming out of the shadows and into the light.


End file.
